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MNRR/Metro-North train Collides with cars in Valhalla, NY 2/3/15


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#41 KevinKorell

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Posted 17 August 2016 - 05:01 PM

Journal News, White Plains, NY, 8/13/16:

 


Bedford 21-year-old honored after Valhalla train crash

 

Riley DeJong was unique among the passengers in the front car of the 5:44 Metro North train from Grand Central Terminal, Feb. 3, 2015.

 

DeJong, now 21 years old, was an emergency medical technician, with skills that served her well when the train struck an SUV on the tracks in Valhalla and burst into flames.

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#42 KevinKorell

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Posted 22 August 2016 - 08:19 PM

Journal News, White Plains, NY, 8/22/16:


Valhalla train crash: Why no NTSB report after 18 months?

 

More than a year and a half after the Valhalla train crash, officials continue to await a National Transportation Safety Board report on the incident that killed six people and injured 15.

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#43 laststopvalhalla

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Posted 30 December 2016 - 12:51 PM

While we still don't know all of the details, and may not considering that the lone SUV driver perished, I count 6 warnings to the driver that somehow were missed.

1.  The gate that came down on her SUV.

2.  The bells at the crossing.

3.  The flashing red lights.

4.  The crossbucks.

5.  The train's horn.

6.  If the TV reports are showing that very crossing, then there is also a white sign that says as follows:

 

 

74926CA6-6E62-4646-9CC0-DDB1707EE2E3-med

 

 

 

 

 

x25235969.jpg

 

Although there was no bell at the crossing, there was a witness, Rick Hope, who repeatedly tried to get Ellen Brody herself, if not the SUV also, off the tracks. 

 

I am working on a fire science project called Last Stop Valhalla about response to and incident command at "high severity, low frequency" incidents. 

http://laststopvalhalla.com

 

The following is an early draft excerpt about what reportedly happened before the collision.

 

 At 6 PM, Israeli Contemporary Designs, better known by its trade name, ICD Jewelers, at 75 South Greeley Avenue in the downtown business district of Chappaqua, NY closed for the night, and Ellen Brody, their bookkeeper, punched out for the day and said good night to owner Varda Singer. Co-worker Virginia Shasha sent her off with a friendly “See you tomorrow!” as they walked out to the cold, snowy parking lot in the rear, and asked Ellen if she was bringing yogurt tomorrow so they could both be “good” with sticking to their New Year’s diets.

 

                Ellen Brody left a moment later, headed for an appointment with a prospective new bookkeeping client at the Starbucks at 51 East Parkway, next to the Scarsdale train station, not far from her home in Edgemont.  She got into her 2011 Mercedes-Benz ML-350 and headed south on Greeley Avenue, then over the bridge that spanned the Harlem Line just north of the Chappaqua train station toward the Saw Mill River Parkway.

 

                Her husband Alan later remarked that over the past few years, she had embarked on a business venture of her own, independent of the media business that they had done together in the past. Alan found and purchased the ML-350 for her in the fall of 2014 “to honor her graduation from a soccer mom in a minivan to an independent financial consultant”. He viewed the vehicle as a “modest trophy that made her proud of her growing enterprise.”  Ellen liked the handling of the small SUV, especially in the bad weather that recently affected Westchester.

 

                That evening, Alan suggested that she take the Saw Mill a few miles south to the Taconic Extension in Hawthorne, which connected with the Bronx River Parkway at the Kensico Dam Plaza interchange. Starbucks, he told, Ellen, is just off the Bronx River Parkway at the Crane Road exit. On a normal day, the fourteen and a half mile trip would have taken about twenty-five minutes.       

 

                Around that same time, Chief Joseph Streany of the Metro-North Fire Department (2641)  left his office at 525 North Broadway, adjacent to the North White Plains Yard, and drove his Metro-North FD command SUV toward the Taconic State Parkway northbound to head home, and ended up stuck in traffic 27 minutes.    

 

                Around 6:20 P.M., Ellen Brody encountered heavy traffic on the southbound Taconic State Parkway. She followed the line of cars off the highway, turning right onto Lakeview Avenue, heading west. At the intersection of Commerce Street, she turned right again to head north on Commerce Street, past the office of Kensico Cemetery and on to a normally lightly traveled section of the road.   

 

                Richard “Rick” Hope, Deputy Commissioner of Public Works for the City of White Plains, was heading home behind Ellen Brody’s SUV as traffic snaked northeast on Commerce Street past Sharon Gardens cemetery to the north.   

 

                When Train 659 was about a half-mile and thirty-eight seconds away, the Commerce Street crossing flashers activated as Ellen Brody waited for the traffic to clear on the east side of the Commerce crossing. Rick Hope looked into his rearview mirror and saw that nobody was immediately behind him. He slowly backed his vehicle away from the crossing, anticipating that Ellen Brody might need room to do the same. “She’s going back up as soon as she realizes what’s going on…” he thought. Seconds later, the gates dropped. The one on the west side of the Commerce Street crossing first hit the roof of the ML-350 before landing near the back window, placing the Mercedes SUV between the gate and the grade crossing.

 

                Chief Streany looked over from the northbound side of the Taconic and saw Train 659 pass at its regular speed to his left, as he sat stuck in crawling traffic. “At least they’re moving…” he thought to himself.

 

                Rick Hope looked on, dumbfounded, as Ellen Brody exited her vehicle, walked to the rear, and looked at the dent and scratches that the gate had put on the rear of the SUV. Ellen Brody then tried to lift up the gate but was unable to do so.  “Why won’t she get her car off the crossing?” he thought to himself, as his panic grew. Knowing that the train was just seconds away, he leaned out his driver’s side window and waved to her, urging Ellen Brody to get herself and her SUV out of the grade crossing. He then backed up further, hoping that Brody might get the message and get herself- if not her vehicle also- safely away from the crossing.

 

                “Get off the tracks!” he yelled.

 

                Engineer Smalls blew his horn as he approached the Lakeview Avenue grade crossing, about a third of a mile before the Commerce Street crossing, and about a mile past the Valhalla train station. At that point, Train 659 was traveling at fifty-eight miles per hour, common for that area of track, which was rated by the Federal Railroad Administration at sixty miles per hour under standard conditions. Train order bulletins for February third did not mention any speed restrictions in that area, nor were there significant conditions evident to the train crew that suggested that any change in operations was necessary or prudent.

 

                Ellen Brody quickly turned and looked at Rick Hope. He thought that she finally got the message and would move to safety. Hope still thought that even if she were paralyzed with fear and could not figure out what to do, all he had to do was call out “come here” and she would.  

     

                Instead, to his horror and disbelief, Rick Hope watched Ellen Brody go back into her SUV, climb into the driver’s seat and fasten her seatbelt, and pull forward into the crossing, completely blocking Track 2, on which the train was traveling. Rick Hope looked at the flashing lights and heard the train horn. “Why…” he thought to himself “…why? The clock is ticking here!” He later recalled that never in his wildest dreams did he think that Ellen Brody would pull forward. 

 

                As the train was about 230 feet from the Commerce Street grade crossing, Engineer Smalls noticed that the reflection ahead was a vehicle that appeared to foul the Commerce Street grade crossing. Immediately, he put the train into emergency braking mode and began to sound the horn. Smalls called Conductor Larkin on the radio to declare an emergency. Knowing the train could not stop in time, Smalls braced for the inevitable impact as the speed decreased below fifty miles per hour.

 

                Rick Hope helplessly stared at the crossing in horror as the train collided with the Mercedes with a loud crunching sound, and knew at that moment that the woman was gone. 

 

                Rick Hope exited his car and stared at the train grinding to a stop in front of him. He looked up at Car 4308, the last one on Train 659, which came to a stop in front of him, blocking the Commerce Street crossing. The passengers were still in their seats, some reading, and some looking at their phones, unaware of what was occurring at the head of the train.

 

                The whole event had taken less than thirty-nine seconds.

 

 

NTSB reports: https://www.ntsb.gov...alhalla_ny.aspx

 

Rick Hope: http://www.lohud.com...tness/76677596/



#44 KevinKorell

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Posted 07 February 2017 - 10:10 PM

lohud.com,   2/3/17:

 


 

Valhalla train crash: Few changes to crossings in 2 years

 

 

 

New signs and pavement markings in New Castle, Mount Pleasant and Mount Kisco. New flashing lights and gates in Orange County.

 

These are some of the safety upgrades made to the region's rail crossings in the two years since a fiery rush-hour Metro-North Railroad train crash in Valhalla claimed six lives.

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#45 KevinKorell

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Posted 24 July 2017 - 03:56 PM

NBC New York, 7/24/17:

 


 

Rail Design Led to Deadliness of 2015 Metro-North Train Crash: Official

 

Federal investigators have concluded that a fiery crash between a commuter train and an SUV that killed six people in the New York City suburbs in 2015 was extra deadly because of an unusual rail design, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Monday.

 

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#46 CNJRoss

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Posted 24 July 2017 - 04:41 PM

NTSB media advisory:

 Speed-Related Crash Study, Valhalla, N.Y., Railroad-Highway Accident, Focus of NTSB Meeting
7/18/2017

 

​WHAT:
The National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to meet to consider two board agenda items. The first is to determine the probable cause of a Feb. 3, 2015, accident involving a Metro-North commuter train and an SUV at a grade crossing in Valhalla, New York. That accident fatally injured five passengers on the train and the SUV driver. The second agenda item is board consideration of a NTSB safety study on reducing speed-related crashes by examining proven and emerging countermeasures.

 

WHEN:
Tuesday, July 25, 2017. The board will hear the Valhalla investigation report beginning 9:30 a.m. and is slated to consider the speed related crash study beginning 1:30 p.m.

 

WHERE:
NTSB Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, D.C.

 

WHO:
NTSB Board members

 

LIVE WEBCAST:
A link to the webcast will be available shortly before the start of the meeting at http://ntsb.capitolconnection.org/

# # #



#47 CNJRoss

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 08:46 AM

NTSB news release:

 
Driver’s Actions Led to Valhalla, NY, Grade Crossing Collision

 

​WASHINGTON (July 25, 2017) — An SUV driver’s actions are the probable cause of a deadly 2015 collision between the SUV and a Metro-North commuter train at a grade crossing in Valhalla, New York, the National Transportation Safety Board found Tuesday.

 

The SUV driver died, along with five passengers on the train, in the Feb. 3, 2015, accident. The rail passengers were killed when 343 feet of the third rail, which powers the train, penetrated the floor of the first train car and struck passengers.

 

The NTSB’s investigation found the driver of the SUV moved her vehicle into the path of Metro-North commuter train 659. Investigators found traffic at the Commerce Street grade crossing was congested when the driver entered the boundary of the grade crossing and stopped. The grade crossing warning system activated properly and a gate came down, striking the rear of her Mercedes-Benz ML350. Witnesses said the driver exited the vehicle and examined where the gate hit her SUV. She then got back into the driver’s seat and moved onto the railroad tracks and into the path of the oncoming train.

 

The train hit the vehicle at 51 m.p.h., pushing the SUV 665 feet down the track, while detaching the third rail. The introduction of sparks, flaming debris and fuel into the lead railcar started a fire.

 

As a result of the investigation the NTSB recommended local officials assess the safety of at-grade crossings, such as the Commerce Street crossing. The NTSB also recommended commuter railroads, like Metro North, that use third-rail power systems, at or near grade crossings, should assess their safety.

 

“Sadly, all of the NTSB’s work in railroad and highway safety to date did not prevent this tragic accident,’’ said Acting Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt. “But the recommendations we issued today could help to avoid future tragedies.  When people see railroad tracks, even at grade crossings, they need to think train, and maintain – or improve – their situational awareness. We recommended risk assessments by companies and agencies, and corrective actions as warranted by the assessment results,’’ Sumwalt said. “Any railroad passenger has the right to expect that everything possible is being done to assure their safety.”

 

The investigation found that Metro-North’s third rail system was not constructed to fail in a controlled manner or break away when subjected to overloaded conditions such as those involved in this accident. Also, the use of Metro-North’s current third rail system may increase the severity of railcar damage and serious injuries at grade crossing accidents.

 

The investigation ruled out the use of personal electronic devices or drugs and alcohol by both the SUV driver and the train engineer. Traffic signals, the performance of the train engineer and weather and track conditions were also ruled out as issues in this crash. There was no evidence to suggest the SUV driver unintentionally drove the vehicle forward due to the unconventional design of the SUVs transmission interface.

 

A link to the findings, probable cause and recommendations are available online at https://go.usa.gov/xR8hG .  The final report will be posted in several days.  The docket for this investigation is available at https://go.usa.gov/xRk37.

 



#48 CNJRoss

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 11:20 AM

Extracts from NTSB Accident Report Synopsis:

 

 

PROBABLE CAUSE

 

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the driver of the sport-utility vehicle, for undetermined reasons, moving the vehicle on to the tracks while the Commerce Street highway-railroad grade crossing warning system was activated, into the path of Metro-North Railroad train 659. Contributing to the accident was the driver of the sport-utility vehicle: (1) stopping beyond the stop line, within the boundary of the highway-railroad grade crossing, despite warning signs indicating the approach to the grade crossing; and (2) reducing the available time to clear the grade crossing by exiting the vehicle after the grade crossing warning system activated because  the driver’s attention was diverted by the grade crossing warning system crossing gate arm striking her vehicle. Contributing to the severity of the accident was the third rail penetrating the passenger compartment of the lead passenger railcar and the postaccident fire.

 

 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

New Recommendations 

 

As a result of its investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board makes the following new safety recommendations:

 

To the Federal Transit Administration:

  1. Notify all rail transit properties that have third rail systems at or near highway-railroad grade crossings about this accident and advise them to conduct a risk assessment for those highway-railroad grade crossings. 
  2. After a full risk assessment is complete, require rail transit properties to implement corrections to their findings that will mitigate the risk of highway-railroad grade crossing accident severity.

To the Metro North Railroad:

 

3.  Conduct a risk assessment for all highway-railroad grade crossings that have third rail systems present at or near those highway-railroad grade crossings and implement corrections based on your risk assessment findings that will mitigate the risk of highway-railroad grade crossing accident severity. 

 

To the Long Island Rail Road, National Passenger Rail System, Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation, and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority:

 

4.  Conduct a risk assessment for all highway-railroad grade crossings that have third rail systems present at or near those highway-railroad grade crossings and implement corrections based on your risk assessment findings that will mitigate the risk of highway-railroad grade crossing accident severity. 

 

To the state of New York Department of Transportation:

 

5.  Once you complete an assessment at intersections in your regions near highway-railroad grade crossings with preemptive traffic signals, proceed with making any necessary adjustments based on engineering principles and current industry guidance. 

 

To the town of Mount Pleasant, New York:

 

6.  Take action based on the results of your traffic study and the Federal Highway Administration’s August 2007 guidelines to improve grade crossing safety in the town of Mount Pleasant.



#49 CNJRoss

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Posted 08 November 2017 - 08:12 PM

The Journal News, White Plains, NY 11/8/17:
 

Valhalla train crash: Lawsuits move forward, despite NTSB ruling

 

 

WHITE PLAINS - It took the National Transportation Safety Board more than two years to place their blame for the deadly 2015 Valhalla train crash.

 

But the courts have yet to have their say, and a jury could decide differently than the federal government, which blamed Ellen Brody, the driver of the SUV that ended up on the tracks minutes before getting slammed into by a Metro-North train.

 

The 19 lawsuits filed in the wake of the crash, which killed six and injured many more, were consolidated last year and are proceeding in Westchester County Court. None of them name Brody as a defendant, but do name Metro-North, Westchester County and Mount Pleasant, among others.

 

Continue here w/4 video links.



#50 KevinKorell

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Posted 21 April 2018 - 10:38 AM

lohud.com   / Journal-News, White Plains, NY, 4/20/18:

 


 

DOT dragging their feet on railroad crossing study

 

 

The state Department of Transportation has not yet produced a study on each of the state's 5,300 rail crossings in defiance of a law requiring it to do so in the wake of the deadliest crash in Metro-North Railroad history, state lawmakers say.

 

 

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