At least 100 people suffered minor injuries when a Long Island Rail Road train crashed into the “bumper block” at the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn on Wednesday. The train from Far Rockaway hit and then went over the bumper at the end of Track 6 at about 8:20 a.m.
The New York City Fire Department says the most serious injury was a possible broken leg to a passenger. Other injuries include bumps, bruises, and minor neck injuries. Passengers say everything felt normal until the actual impact at which time many were getting out of their seats to get off the train.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and MTA President Thomas Prendergast say the train was coming into the station at about 15 miles per hour, a “low rate of speed,” when it hit the bumper.
While NTSB officials are just beginning their investigation, the LIRR is currently in the middle of a billion dollar system safety upgrade.
Positive Train Control is a computer system that is supposed to take control of a train if the operator goes too fast or runs a red signal: if a train enters a station faster than the rule book allows, the train takes over and slows down. After a 2008 derailment in California that killed 25 people, Congressed mandated all railroads have positive train control by 2015.
But for Positive Train Control to work properly, a lot of things have to happen in a short amount of time.
Gus Ubaldi, railroad engineer and former director of the Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, says, “The system has to recognize that the train is not proceeding as it should. It has to alert the engineer so he can take action. And then decide that the engineer hasn't taken action and I'll take over. All that in 750 feet."
And in cases where trains are going slowly, as initial reports indicate occurred in Wednesday’s incident, Positive Train Control may not avert an accident at all.
