Train struck SUV that got stuck on tracks at crossing in Valhalla, killing vehicle’s driver and five on board Metro-North service

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Six people were killed and a dozen injured when a crowded New York commuter train struck a car stalled on the tracks near suburban White Plains during rush hour on Tuesday evening, in what officials said was the railroad’s deadliest accident.

Investigators examining the circumstances of a New York commuter train accident that killed five people said on Wednesday they were collecting recording devices from the site where the train hit a vehicle stalled on the tracks in the railroad’s worst-ever accident.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo said five passengers died in the Metro-North train crash near the suburb of White Plains on Tuesday evening, not six, as he had previously announced. The driver of the SUV that the train struck while it was stuck on the tracks also died.

Fifteen other people were injured, including seven in very serious condition, the governor added.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the state-controlled agency that runs the railroad, said the crash was the deadliest accident for Metro-North, the second-largest commuter railroad in the US.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Officials examine the railroad crossing and the back of a Metro-North Railroad commuter train on Wednesday. Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the federal agency that investigates transportation accidents, plans to examine signals at the crossing, the highway that intersects the rail tracks and any issues linked with the fire, according to board member Robert Sumwalt.

The highway signals, rail signals and the crossing arms at the intersection all have recording devices that NTSB investigators will examine, Sumwalt said in remarks to reporters at Reagan national airport outside Washington DC.

Thousands of commuters faced a snarled journey to work on Wednesday morning in the aftermath of the accident.

MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said roughly 45,000 riders take the Metro-North Railroad’s Harlem Line on an average weekday, about 14,000 of whom board north of where the crash occurred and would be directly affected. Parts of the line will remain closed on Wednesday, according to the MTA.

Several commuters said they were wary about riding in the front car of the train but others were unfazed. Peter Greco, a risk manager at a New York City office of BNP Paribas, said the only delays he encountered was a longer line at a White Plains parking lot.

“I don’t think riding in front will bother me,” he said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Security officials inspect the accident site. Photograph: Xinhua /Landov/Barcroft Media

Parts of the line would stay closed on Wednesday, according to the MTA, which was arranging for shuttle buses to fill the gap and warned of crowding and delays.

The electrified third rail of the track tore through the floor of the first car [carriage] of the train, charring the carriage and sending billows of smoke into the air. Damage to the other seven train cars was minimal.

“It’s actually amazing that not more people were hurt on that train,” Cuomo said.

Passengers described frightening scenes as the train was evacuated.

“The smoke was orange coming off the train, it was still on fire at that point. The front car was billowing heavy smoke out of the windows and doors,” said Jared Woodard, an employee of BGC Financial in New York, who was on the train travelling home to Chappaqua.

Hundreds of passengers from the eight-car train were taken to a rock-climbing gym for shelter, authorities said. The average number of passengers on the train is 650 on a line that carries commuters through affluent New York suburbs such as Westchester County.

Media reports said the driver of the car got out briefly to try to push it off the tracks, then got back in before it was hit by the train. Officials did not say why the car was stalled on the tracks.

The train left Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan at 5.44pm and was heading north to Wassaic in south-east New York state.

Smoke rises from carriages at the site of the train crash. Photograph: Xinhua /Landov/Barcroft Media

Westchester County is home to many bankers, doctors and corporate lawyers, and houses the headquarters of major companies, including IBM and PepsiCo.



The Harlem Line is part of the Metro-North Railroad commuter rail service, which runs five lines.

Tuesday’s crash is the latest in a string of accidents involving Metro-North trains in recent years.

One derailed near the northern edge of New York City on 1 December 2013, killing four people and injuring 70. It was travelling nearly three times over the speed limit for the section of track where it crashed, investigators said.

Astorino made a distinction between that crash, which was the result of a train employee error, and Tuesday’s accident. But he said the latest incident was under investigation.

Earlier in 2013, two Metro-North passenger trains collided between Fairfield and Bridgeport, Connecticut, injuring more than 70 people and halting services.

The NNTSB released a report late last year that identified common safety issues with the railroad following investigations into five accidents that left six people dead and another 126 injured between May 2013 and March 2014.

The safety board said it was sending investigators to the scene of Tuesday’s crash.