Dutchess has similar crossings, but few accidents
There are more than two dozen crossings in Dutchess County similar to site of the deadly Metro-North Railroad collision, but there have been no such accidents in more than 13 years here, according to Poughkeepsie Journal analysis of federal reports.
Since 1975, there have been 19 accidents at train crossings involving a motor vehicle in Dutchess County, according to federal data analyzed by the Journal. Most of those accidents resulted in no injuries. Three people were killed in one crash and 10 were injured in other collisions.
In an exclusive investigation of "grade" railroad crossings, the Journal analyzed reports on the crossings in Dutchess and for accidents filed with the Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety Analysis. "Grade" crossings are when the road and train tracks are at the same level.
Six people died and 15 were injured Tuesday when a Metro-North train headed to Wassaic struck an SUV stuck on the tracks at a "grade" crossing in Valhalla in Westchester County. National Transportation Safety Board investigators spent Wednesday poring over the train-SUV crash scene.
In the wake of the crash, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, introduced the Rail Crossings Safety Improvement Act to improve safety at grade crossings. The proposed legislation would reauthorize the Rail Line Relocation & Improvement Capital Grant Program at $100 million a year over the next four years.
Authorization for the Rail Line Relocation & Improvement Capital Grant Program expired in 2009. When authorized, it was funded at $20 million to $35 million dollars, according to a press release issued by Maloney. New York is home to 5,304 grade crossings. From 2012-2014, there were 81 accidents, 15 deaths and 23 injuries at grade crossings, according to the Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety data provided by Maloney's office.
Thirteen of the 28 grade crossings in Dutchess have gates, similar to those at the Valhalla crash, that lower when a train is near, according to an analysis of the federal reports. The crossings with gates averaged between 13 and 86 trains passing per day.
The other 15 crossings, without gates, on average have one to three trains passing each day.
Most rail lines in Dutchess County involve bridges or tunnels where the train and vehicles are not crossing directly.
Crossings in Dover and Pawling accounted for all of the accidents where there were injuries since 1975. All but two of the accidents were in the 1970s and 1980s.
The fatal crash in March 30, 1978 was on Bank Street in Chelsea. The driver had stopped, but then began to drive over the tracks when the northbound Consolidated Rail Corp. train struck it, according to the accident report.
Local officials take care to ensure the grade crossings are "up to standards and maintained," said Pawling Town Supervisor David Kelly.
Whatever safety methods that the MTA has implemented seem to work, Kelly said. "We do not have any concerns with Metro-North and we've found them to be wonderful to deal with."
Kelly said he called Metro-North "once, many years ago," when a crossing signal arm was stuck in a downward position, and the company responded "within minutes."
The deadly collision Tuesday will not likely cause a flurry of MTA grade crossing safety improvements, said senior MTA board member James Sedore Jr., who represents Dutchess County and is chairman of the MTA board's Metro-North.
"The grade crossing did what it's supposed to do," Sedore said. "It worked as it's supposed to. In that area where the accident was ... it's not really close to a lot of stations. The train has no way to stop."
The number of people killed as a result of grade crossing collisions dropped dramatically nationwide, from 1,115 in 1976 to just over 250 in 2011, according to Operation Lifesaver, a non-profit dedicated to reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities at highway-rail grade crossings.
Tuesday's "terrible" collision is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, Sedore added.
"They'll look and find out if there's anything we should do. But given the circumstances as I'm aware of them, it seems it was more a problem of someone trying to get across those tracks, and didn't make it," Sedore said. "All in all, this is human error."
Nina Schutzman: nschutzman@poughkeepsie journal.com, 845-451-4518, Twitter: @pojonschutzman