From: de-blasfail@nyc.com   
      
   XPost: nyc.politics, soc.women, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.society.liberalism   
      
   A New York commuter train struck an SUV on the tracks in a   
   suburban New York City community Tuesday night, killing the   
   driver of the car and six passengers on board the train, New   
   York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a press conference.   
      
   The northbound Metro-North Railroad train struck a Jeep Cherokee   
   in Valhalla, 20 miles south of New York City, railroad spokesman   
   Aaron Donovan said. Seven were killed in the accident marking   
   the crash as the railroad’s deadliest.   
      
   "You have seven people who started out today to go about their   
   business and aren't going to be making it home tonight," Cuomo   
   said.   
      
   The railroad crossing gates had come down on top of the SUV,   
   which had stopped on the train tracks, Donovan said. The driver   
   got out to inspect the vehicle and got back into it to drive   
   away when it was struck, he said.   
      
   The train shoved the SUV about 10 train car lengths. Smoke   
   poured out of the scorched front rail car, its windows blackened.   
      
   "I was trapped. You know there was people in front of me and   
   behind me, and I was trapped in the middle of a car and it was   
   getting very hot," he told ABC News. "All the air was turned off   
   so there was no circulation so it was definitely scary   
   especially when people are walking by on the outside and they   
   said, 'The train's on fire. There's a fire.'"   
      
   Passenger Stacey Eisner, who was at the rear of the train, told   
   NBC News that she felt the train "jerk" and then a conductor   
   walked through the train explaining what had happened. She said   
   her train car was evacuated about 10 minutes later using ladders   
   to get people out.   
      
   The other rail passengers were moved to the rear of the train,   
   which had left Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan 45 minutes   
   earlier.   
      
   More than 750 passengers were likely aboard the train. About 400   
   passengers got off from the rear of the train and taken to a   
   rock climbing gym for shelter. Buses were headed there to pick   
   them up and take them to their destinations.   
      
   All railroad grade crossings have gate arms that are designed to   
   lift automatically if they strike a vehicle no the way down,   
   railroad safety consultant Grady Cothen said. The arms are made   
   of wood and are designed to be easily broken if a car trapped   
   between them moves forward or backward, he said.   
      
   Metro-North is the nation's second-busiest railroad, after the   
   Long Island Rail Road. It was formed in 1983 and serves about   
   280,000 riders a day in New York and Connecticut.   
      
   Metro-North is the nation's second-busiest railroad, after the   
   Long Island Rail Road. It was formed in 1983 and serves about   
   280,000 riders a day in New York and Connecticut. Service on its   
   Harlem Line was suspended between Pleasantville and North White   
   Plains after the crash.   
      
   Metro-North has had many recent accidents. Late last year, the   
   National Transportation Safety Board issued rulings on five   
   accidents that occurred in New York and Connecticut in 2013 and   
   2014, repeatedly finding fault with the railroad while also   
   noting that conditions have improved.   
      
   Among the accidents was a Dec. 1, 2013, derailment that killed   
   four people, the railroad's first passenger fatalities, in the   
   Bronx. The NTSB said the engineer had fallen asleep at the   
   controls because he had a severe, undiagnosed case of sleep   
   apnea.   
      
   http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/02/03/at-least-12-hurt-after-ny-   
   commuter-train-hits-car-report-says/   
      
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