Looking for answers after train collision

The latest Metro-North collision — three workers were injured this week when two slowly moving trains collided — is renewing worry over the commuter railroad’s focus on safety.

“Two trains hit each other and that’s not supposed to happen,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D- Conn.

“Given the fact that speeds were low, it reduced the accident,” Blumenthal said. “But the collision is cause for concern; we need to know a lot more.”

As federal investigators and Metro-North looked for answers on Friday, the mishap raised questions over how such a collision could happen.

Jim Cameron, founder of the Commuter Action Group and a Hearst Connecticut Media columnist, said the accident is “just the latest in a pattern of safety issues” going back years.

“People got hurt, even in what the railroad euphemistically refers to only as a ‘bump,’” Cameron said, repeating the description Metro-North initially used to depict the accident.

“There could have been passengers on the train and the injuries could have affected many, many more people,” Cameron added.

The Bridgeport collision is the latest involving Metro-North trains.

About a dozen passengers were injured last year when a Metro-North New Haven Line train derailed near the Rye, N.Y., station as it rounded a curve at a slow speed, sending four people to the hospital. The accident caused five of the 12 cars to come off the tracks.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority initially called the accident a “minor derailment” with no injuries, drawing a quick rebuke from elected officials and commuters.

In 2013, the Federal Railroad Administration launched “Operation Deep Dive,” a massive probe of the Metro-North’s operations and management, and concluded the railroad was too focused on on-time performance and lacked adequate safety and training programs.

That criticism followed a 2013 derailment near the Fairfield/Bridgeport line that injured over 70 passengers and a derailment in the Bronx that killed four people and injured dozens.

In 2014, Metro-North worker Robert Luden was hit and killed by a train while working on a track in West Haven that was supposed to be inactive.

Six people were killed and 15 injured in 2015 when a Metro-North train slammed into an SUV as it crossed railroad tracks in Valhalla, N.Y.

‘Bump’

The accident on Thursday occurred at about 1 p.m. when two trains carrying six workers and no passengers collided near Bridgeport’s Harbor Yard.

Three workers were injured, and one spent the night in the hospital, Metro-North officials said.

Both trains were traveling east and being pulled by locomotives. One was an empty Waterbury branch Metro-North train and the other was a service train.

The two trains collided between the Bridgeport train station and the Main Street overpass.

“The standing train was in front of the equipment train, and — like with cars on the road — the work train came into contact with the standing locomotive,” said Nancy Gamerman a Metro-North spokesperson.

She noted the incident would not have been prevented by Positive Train Control, a high-tech safety system being installed on the railroad’s fleet.

“We can confirm that the FRA is investigating the incident and the National Transportation Safety Board is not involved,” Gamerman said. “There was minimal damage to equipment, less than $5,000.”

She said the equipment would be inspected and repaired and should be back in service within a few days.

Gamerman said the three injured workers were evaluated and two were sent home on Thursday. One worker was admitted to the hospital for overnight observation and released by noon on Friday, she said.

Safety first

Jim Gildea, president of the Connecticut Commuter Railroad Council and a daily Metro-North passenger, said he’s not happy with Metro-North’s response to accidents.

“In cases like this, MetroNorth is never really forthcoming with information,” Gildea said. “The concerning part is you never get a sense of acknowledgment of whether or not an issue is serious to them or whether they are addressing the contributors of such an accident

“Even the initial description from them that it was a bump underscores the fact that they are always looking to minimize any issues,” Gildea noted. “There were ambulances on the scene and people were hurt. That is never a minor issue.”

Cameron said he wants to know who was responsible for movement of the trains.

“It seems clear dispatchers must have known both trains were occupying the same track, for some reason,” Cameron said. “I hope the FRA investigates what happened and does whatever is necessary to make the railroad see safety as its paramount responsibility — because that clearly still hasn’t happened.”

Blumenthal also said he expects a detailed investigation.

“We have no adequate explanation as to how this crash occurred,” he said. “I will avoid jumping to conclusions but there needs to be a comprehensive investigation about the cause and to avoid future incidents.”