Aug 23, 2006 5:45 am US/Eastern
CBS 2 Probe Of Gaps Leads To 90-Day Study
LIRR, MTA Taking A Lot Of Criticism For Not Acting Sooner
by Marcia Kramer
QUEENS (CBS/AP) ―
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Watch the gap! Even from a distance, gaps on LIRR trains are noticeably large.
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A demonstration shows just how wide gaps at many NYC train stations are.
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A sign posted on LIRR trains.
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CBS 2 investigated and tonight we are getting action.
The Long Island Railroad announced Tuesday that is it taking steps to close the dangerous gap on some train platforms.
The LIRR seems to think stickers and periodic announcements would have been enough to prevent riders from falling through wide gaps at train platforms. After the death of a young tourist and a CBS 2 investigation it seems the agency has changed its mind.
"We had signs on the door of every car that said watch the gap," LIRR President James Dermody said. "We would make periodic announcements not on a regular basis."
Then on Aug. 5, 18-year-old Natalie Smead from Minnesota fell to her death in a gap between the train and the platform at the Woodside station in Queens.
So much for the LIRR's gap safety program, said Sen. Dean Skelos.
"More announcements are great, but it just didn't work," said Skelos, a Republican from Nassau County.
Dermody said his agency hadn't ignored the gap problems that are caused for instance by a station's curvature and the design of fast-moving trains, whose sides are straight.
"I think we've always realized that there is a problem with gaps," Dermody said. "It is not an easy solution."
And so on Tuesday, more than two weeks after CBS 2 first began looking at the size of the gaps at LIRR stations, a new 90-day study is being ordered up.
CBS 2's probe made some shocking discoveries. We found gaps as wide as 10 and 11 inches at the Woodside station where Smead died. When we first started covering the story, CBS 2 reporter Brendan Keefe demonstrated just how easy it is for an average American male to fall though a 13-inch gap.
The Disabled Riders Coalition said the announcement Tuesday of the study is too little too late.
"This study was mandated to be done by law 16 years ago," said Michael Harris of the DRC. "For the MTA to come out now, only after some tragic death, is simply inexcusable."
A mother with a baby carriage agreed. The gaps are inexcusable.
"They should have something come out like a ramp because it's too dangerous," the woman said. "It makes me very nervous to get on."
Public Transportation Safety Board Chairman Tom Madison defended the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs Metro-North and the LIRR, citing statistics. In 2005, he said, there were only 59 gap-related incidents out of 91 million riders who used the LIRR.
"The ratio is incredibly small," Madison said. "Having said that ... one accident, one injury or certainly one fatality is not acceptable."
The study will look at other safety hazards at LIRR and Metro-North stations.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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