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More Safety Lapses……

Posted by
on September 18th, 2007 at 9:03 pm

Well it seems that a lot more work is to be done in regards to improving track worker safety. According to an article on the Daily News’ website, three workers were almost run over by a train in Astoria. The incident took place on September 6th but it is now becoming public knowledge. Here is the article about the incident courtesy of the NY Daily News:

A subway supervisor and two track workers were nearly run over by a subway train rumbling past a stop signal in Queens, the Daily News has learned.

NYC Transit said yesterday it is investigating the Sept. 6 near miss in Astoria, which came after two veteran track workers were killed in separate incidents this year.

“We are taking this very seriously,” said NYC Transit spokesman Charles Seaton.

The workers in the train’s path were able to get out of the way, according to their report of the incident. But they said the supervisor froze in place as the train neared.

“I looked directly at the train flying through [the signal] and breaking the red flag,” one of the workers recalled in a report obtained by The News. “I thought we were about to be killed by this train.”

Luckily, the train was halted by a safety device called a tripper, which activated the train’s emergency brakes.

“If the the tripper did not work [the supervisor] would have been cut in half right in front of me,” the worker said. “He never moved an inch during this whole scenario.”

According to the trackman, the train came to a stop about 75 feet in front of the supervisor. Other transit sources said it was closer to 100 feet.

Both track workers said the supervisor joined his men in doing manual labor and allegedly was distracted.

“The supervisor was not supervising. He was working and not in tune with keeping us safe,” the second worker wrote in his report of the incident.

After the deaths in April of subway workers Daniel Boggs and Marvin Franklin within days of each other, NYC Transit President Howard Roberts temporarily halted nonessential track work and enacted some new safety regulations and procedures.

“The MTA has long had an anti-safety culture,” Transport Workers Union President Roger Toussaint said. “The new leadership is trying to fix that, but it’s clearly going to take some time.”

Lets just say some heads will be rolling once this situation is taken care of. Who knows how many workers are going to face some major punishment. Thankfully the portable tripper was in place to prevent what would have been sure deaths. I can only imagine how much trouble the T.O. will be in as he/she committed one of the most serious offenses possible, running past a red flag or lantern.

Here is a link to an interesting thread on Subchat that will break down the incident more. I’m sure the thread will have a bunch of responses in the next few days.

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Monday Was A Bad Day For NJ Transit

Posted by
on September 18th, 2007 at 8:49 pm

While browsing the local news sites, I spotted a story about NJ Transit. According the article, 2 separate accidents occurred involving NJ Transit trains led to the death of 3 people. Here is a brief article about the accidents courtesy of the NY Daily News:

RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Three people are dead following two separate incidents involving NJ Transit trains.

Authorities are investigating a crash around midnight that killed two occupants of a car that was on the tracks at a crossing in Rutherford.

And around 7 a.m. Monday, a train struck and killed someone who was on the tracks on a bridge over the Navesink River in Red Bank. That accident is causing delays of 20 to 30 minutes.

In the earlier accident, NJ Transit spokeswoman Courtney Carroll said crossing gates and flashing warning lights were functioning properly at the Park Avenue crossing in Rutherford. It was not immediately clear why the car was on the tracks, she said.

Service on the Bergen line was back to normal by 6 a.m. following that crash.

It seems some will never learn these two equally important lessons:

    Don’t play on railroad/subway tracks
    Don’t think you will beat a train at a grade crossing
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1

5 & M Train You’re Up

Posted by
on September 18th, 2007 at 6:51 am

So the MTA has updated the rider report card image on their homepage. A few days ago I posted about the image being strange to me because the 4 was grouped with the J & Z. This week the image makes a little more sense but not completely. This week the image features the 4, 5, & M trains. Why is the M included in this batch of grading? Why not just group the lines by their trunk so the M would be with the J & Z while the 4 & 5 would go with the 6?

Lastly why even update the image when they could have said all the lines are up for grading since at one point they were. I guess they update the image to reflect lines they are handing out cards on. I am waiting for the 6 train to be up for grading. I plan on going to my local station when it does & fill out my card.

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2

3 Train Service Alert

Posted by
on September 18th, 2007 at 4:20 am

The MTA has posted a service alert regarding the 3 train. The service alert reads:

Due to an ongoing rail condition at the 34th Street-Penn Station, please expect delays in service on the Flatbush-bound trains and the Utica Avenue-bound trains at this time.

Does anyone proofread these alerts before they are posted? Last I check the 3 train is always scheduled to run to New Lots Avenue. The only time it does not is for its overnight shuttle service between 148th Street & 135th Street in Harlem. Sorry it is a pet peeve to see such errors posted almost daily!

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MTA Serious About Going Green

Posted by
on September 17th, 2007 at 2:30 pm

I was browsing AMNY’s website & noticed a story that was not in today’s paper. The story is about the MTA’s latest vision to become environmentally friendly. The MTA has already been working on this vision as I blogged about last month in this entry. Here is the brief article courtesy of AMNY:

NEW YORK (AP) _ Green could literally sprout from rooftops of some bus depots in the near future as the nation’s largest mass transit system looks to become more environmentally friendly.

Rooftop gardens on bus depots and windmills at rail yards were just two ideas mulled over by a member of a panel of experts formed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to develop a green master plan for the city’s system of subways and buses. The panel was scheduled to begin meeting this week.

“The issue of global warming is arguably the most significant challenge our generation faces and it’s important that the MTA do its part,” said Elliot Sander, the executive director of the authority.

One member of the panel, Alex Matthiessen, president of Riverkeeper, an environmental organization, said green rooftops on bus depots could absorb water during rainstorms to reduce sometimes paralyzing floods of the subway system.

Wind power could be used at some rail yards to power operations, he said.

I like the idea of MTA trying to go green but rooftop gardens? Is that really necessary? I’m hoping that idea will stay just that, an idea!

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