Federal investigators are urging Metro-North to implement new safety measures three weeks after a track worker was struck and killed by a train in West Haven.
Below is part of an article by Hartford Courant reporter Wes Duplantier about what officials with the National Transportation Safety Board say could have stopped the accident from happening. Read more at courant.com.
Less than three weeks after a fast-moving Metro-North train struck and killed a track worker near West Haven, federal investigators on Monday issued an “urgent safety recommendation” saying the railroad should act quickly and start using a basic safety device to protect workers on its tracks.
Track Foreman Robert Luden, 52, was killed May 28 when he was struck by a New York-bound train that was traveling about 70 mph, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Luden was doing construction work at the site of a new train station when he was struck.
Safety board investigators have not yet determined the cause of the fatal accident, but the agency said Monday that Metro-North should start using a technique called “shunting” on tracks that are undergoing repairs.
When a track is “shunted,” workers attach a device to the track that signals to rail dispatchers that the track is closed. The closed signal would remain in place until the workers remove the device.