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QUEENS (AP) ― "Watch the gap."

Those are the buzz words that greet more than 280,000 commuters using the Long Island Rail Road each day -- part of a visible Metropolitan Transportation Authority effort to keep riders from hurting or even killing themselves by stepping into the space between a platform and a train.

On Wednesday, officials of North America's largest commuter railroad announced that the LIRR will reduce the gap at eight stations, including the Shea Stadium stop in Queens.

The death in early August of an 18-year-old Minnesota tourist, who slipped through an almost foot-wide gap at Queens' Woodside station and was struck by a train, has "expedited" MTA efforts to step up safety measures, Raymond Kenny, the LIRR's acting president, said after a committee meeting Wednesday at the MTA's Manhattan headquarters. The LIRR is a division of the state MTA.

"We're asking the question, 'Is it enough?"' said Kenny.

At the Shea Stadium station, where the gap measured 11 inches, the tracks already have been moved as much as 4.5 inches toward the platform, LIRR spokeswoman Susan McGowan said. Similar changes will be made at the Jamaica, Deer Park, Hicksville, Huntington, Merillon Avenue, Mineola and New Hyde Park stations.

"These aren't necessarily the worst locations, but they're ones that in our measuring we have found to be out of compliance," McGowan said.

At some of the LIRR's 124 stations, stretching from Manhattan to Montauk, the railroad is unable to meet its standards for the size of the gap -- no more than 7 to 8 inches -- because of the curvature of the platform. Those gaps are as wide as 15 inches.

Officials at Wednesday's meeting presented various other measures aimed at preventing mishaps.

Signage has been increased and improved to warn passengers, and the MTA also is bolstering train and station announcements to increase riders' awareness.

Still, the measures do not prevent about 60 gap-related incidents each year.

The worst was the death of Natalie Smead, of Northfield, Minn., killed after slipping through a gap and getting hit by a train as she was trying to crawl out. Both the National Transportation Safety Board and the New York State Public Transportation Safety Board are conducting investigations into her death.

Last month, former state Sen. Carol Berman broke her ankle and hurt her ribs when she stepped off a train at the Lawrence station in Queens, straight into the gap. A preliminary MTA probe indicated that sun glare blinded Berman as she left the train, leading to the fall.

And two years ago, former Broadway dancer Shelly Rann broke her neck and was left paralyzed after falling through at the Forest Hills station in Queens.

The gap problem also faces commuters taking the Metro-North Railroad to the city's northern suburbs. Warning signs and announcements serve as the basic safety measures at those stops.

The LIRR Commuters Campaign, which represents riders, said it was about time the LIRR made some changes.

"We're a little dismayed and surprised that the LIRR, after all this time, still has a standard larger than Metro-North and more than twice (Americans with Disabilities Act) standards," campaign president Peter Haynes said. "But we're pleased they're going to take some corrective measures at some stations."

The Americans with Disabilities Act mandates that new platform work must have a gap no larger than 3 inches, Haynes said.

In the city's subways, physical adjustments have been made at stations including Times Square and Union Station. The South Ferry station in lower Manhattan uses "gap plates" -- devices that electronically extend temporary plates from the platform to train doors.

In Times Square, passengers using the "shuttle" train to Grand Central Terminal must step over the gap, but a metal strip just underneath catches any misstep. A big red "Watch your step" sign also warns of a "wide gap between car and platform edge.

"I'm concerned about these gaps," said Susan Hannah, a Manhattan resident. "But to a certain point, people have to pay attention and take their own precautions. Government can't do everything for us."

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)