MTA says contractor failed to follow safety rules at site of LIRR construction accident
The contractor performing work that led to the severe electrical-shock injury of an ironworker at a Long Island Rail Road station last weekend failed to follow some safety protocols, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said. Newsday reports the accident at the LIRR Minneola station occurred after work had been completed to install a prefabricated pedestrian bridge as part of the Third Track project adding an additional line on the LIRR Main Line. With that work complete, the contractor decided to move another piece of steel with a crane. It was when that work was in progress that the ironworker was injured [see “Digest: Plymouth, Minn., derailment could be cleaned up …,” Trains News Wire, March 15, 2021]; she has since been identified as Kelly Gluchowski, the newspaper reports, and remains hospitalized in stable condition. An MTA official said that additional work was not scheduled, did not have a required “safe work plan,” and involved equipment that was not supposed to be used. Work on the Third Track project has been suspended while the incident is investigated.
Pandemic cited in delivery delay for new Metro-North railcars
New railcars for Metro-North’s New Haven line are now expected to be more than a year late in delivery, the New York Daily News reports, with Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials citing “improper workmanship” and “workforce shortages” resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The 66 new M8 electric multiple-unit cars are being built by Kawasaki at plants in Lincoln, Neb., and Yonkers, N.Y., and were originally due to arrive in January of this year. They are now expected in February 2022. The cars are part of an option on an order that has already seen 405 of the cars delivered. It is one of two Kawasaki orders for the MTA running behind schedule; officials previously said an order for 535 cars for subways and the Staten Island Railway has been pushed back from July 2023 to September 2024.
Metra makes adjustments to schedules for three Rock Island trains
Metra will make minor adjustments to its Rock Island District schedule as of Monday, March 22, based on customer feedback to the schedule introduced Feb. 1, to improve on-time performance and transfer opportunities. Three trains will be affected:
— Inbound train No. 706 will depart Joliet at 7:35 a.m., 5 minutes later than the current schedule, arriving at La Salle Street station at 8:35 a.m. The change will increase spacing between trains and decrease delays due to congestion.
— Outbound train No. 611 will depart La Salle Street 15 minutes later at 3:25 p.m. and arrive at Blue Island/Vermont Street at 4:05 p.m.
— Outbound train No. 411 will depart La Salle Street 5 minutes later at 3:45 p.m. This will better enable passengers who board train No. 611 at intermediate stations to transfer at Blue Island/Vermont Street.
The new schedule is available here.
