Metro-North train derailment

Parent Cafe
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<p>An early morning train derailment on the Metro-North line has killed at least 4. Train was traveling from Poughkeepsie to NYC.</p>

<p>[4</a> dead, 63 injured after NYC-bound Metro-North passenger train derails in Bronx - NY Daily News](<a href=“http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-bound-metro-north-passenger-train-derails-bronx-article-1.1533963]4”>Four dead, 63 injured after NYC-bound Metro-North passenger train derails in Bronx – New York Daily News)</p>

<p>In such sad circumstances, I hate to be practical but the Hudson Line is shut down. Check your travel plans and those of your kids.</p>

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<p>Amtrak trains between Albany and NYC cancelled as they use same track as metro north.</p>

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<p>Terrible tragedy. </p>

<p>emilybee…I did not know this affects Amtrak. My daughter is to take Amtrack today from Albany to NYC to then fly to CA. I better call her.</p>

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<p>Good idea to call her. It’s possible they will resume service between Albany and a station further south and then put passengers on buses, but the latest I heard was that all service from Albany to NYC was suspended.</p>

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<p>I tried to call but she did not pick up. I knew she was supposed to be enroute to the Albany Amtrak station now. But I reached my husband who is with her. </p>

<p>Here’s what happened. I was in NYC with her (she lives in San Francisco) and my other D who lives in NYC for the holiday (I live in VT) and left NYC with the CA daughter yesterday to drive back to VT, but I stopped and dropped her in upstate NY for the night at her grandparents so she could see them while she is in the East as my MIL’s health is declining. I left her there yesterday afternoon and went back to VT myself. Today, she was to take a noon train from Albany to NYC and then go to JFK to fly to San Fran tonight. She is already under a lot of stress as her thesis was due today but she got a couple of days extension and needs to get back pronto! But my husband had gone to his parents’ house in upstate NY today from VT to see this daughter as he didn’t see her over the holiday. When he got there, they heard about the derailment and the effect on Amtrak and so he is now in the car with her driving her all the way to JFK and will drive all the way back to VT tonight. Whew.</p>

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<p>It affects Amtrak because they use the same track.</p>

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<p>Good idea for them to decide to drive to the airport. There will likely be lots of traffic but if she is not flying until tonight there is plenty of time to get there.</p>

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<p>Yes, they didn’t take the time to look into busses, which were likely already booked for the holiday but surely now that Amtrak is not running. They got into the car and are on their way now to JFK and she’ll be there in plenty of time for her evening flight. Actually, given that she must work on her theses, but was trying to go out of her way to see her grandparents, she can use some hours in JFK to work on it. It is a long round trip by car for my husband from VT to NYC and back in one day though. Thank you for alerting me. I knew about the train accident but not that it would affect Amtrak. Luckily, my in-laws heard about it this morning and they knew of it before I read your post and put this plan into place for my D to get to NYC to make her flight to CA.</p>

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<p>soozie, what a relief your DH could drive her. He needs a special meal when he gets home tonight!</p>

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<p>Beyond the tragedy for those aboard, I have been thinking of the college kids at RPI, Sienna, U Albany and other schools in the regions that will be impacted by this.</p>

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<p>Lots of kids take Megabus now instead of the train. Much cheaper.</p>

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<p>Just now heard on the news that Amtrak is not affected after all; they use different tracks.</p>

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<p>Amtrak resumed service between Albany and NYC around 3pm. They may not use the same track (i thought they did) but they are next to each other so service was suspended.</p>

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<p>This is scary because I ALWAYS take Metro-North for a part of my trip when traveling home. So sad :(</p>

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<p>DD takes Metro North to New Haven. How scary and sad!</p>

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<p>We were in NYC for thanksgiving, and DD1 uses Metro North between Manhattan and her campus north of there. We were talking about how unfortunate it was for people just like her, but on a train in the other direction.</p>

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<p>The train was going 82 mph. Someone needs to spend a lot time in prison.</p>

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<p>On a curve!!</p>

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<p>I’m willing to hear all the facts, but this doesn’t look good. The “speed limit” on the straight stretch leading into the curve is apparently 70, so the train was nearly 20% too fast at the time of the crash. Chances are it was even faster than that miles before.</p>

<p>News reports are that the train driver was an experienced, good employee. We’ll see. </p>

<p>Trains can’t stop on a dime. A speculative guess is that the guy speeds regularly, but backs it down in time. This particular morning, something distracted him (texting, bathroom, dozing off?) and he lost track of where he was (how close to the curve). When he apprehended that he was too close and too fast…it was too late. Looking at the photo coverage, it is remarkable that only four were killed. I’m sure many of the injuries are quite serious.</p>

<p>It would be nice to know if anyone in management had ever worked driving a train. My great suspicion is that no one has. It might help to have supervisors who knew the brakes from the accelerators.</p>

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<p>

The speed limit on the curve itself is 30 mph, so some serious braking must normally have to take place on the straight stretch. The train was exceeding the speed limit by 20% before it got to the curve and didn’t brake at all as it entered the curve, at which point it was exceeding the limit by a lot more than 20%. Scary stuff.

But why would anyone do that? This train appears to have been on time, so there was no reason to speed at all. Arriving early at a station doesn’t benefit anyone and means the train has to wait to depart. This is all pretty befuddling.</p>