MTA announces ‘inspection blitz’ to stop train debris raining from sky
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Debris from an elevated subway track along the 7 line crashed into a car around 65th Street in Woodside in February, piercing through the windshield. Photo via Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer’s office.
By Alex Williamson
After the back windshield of a livery cab was smashed by a falling piece of railroad equipment in Ozone Park yesterday, New York City Transit President Andy Byford announced the MTA would conduct a one-week ‘inspection blitz’ along all 60 miles of elevated track in the city’s system.
The debris was a 15-pound piece of metal equipment called a D-wedge that fell from the elevated A Train tracks around 100th Street and Liberty Avenue. A protective basket under the track was loose and did not catch the falling part as it was designed to do, according to the agency.
Last night’s incident is the latest in a series of reports of debris falling from elevated tracks onto the streets below.
Last week in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a woman reported that debris fell from a decommissioned section of what was the Myrtle Avenue line, smashing her car’s sunroof. The MTA said in a statement that inspectors were unable to find any debris that could have caused the damage, but were still reviewing the matter.
Earlier that same week, a man in Long Island City said his car’s sunroof was shattered by a rusty bolt that fell from the N/W tracks.
A woman crossing the street under the N/W line in Astoria in August reported she was nearly stuck by a falling flashlight.
In February, an Uber driver was nearly impaled when a wooden beam fell from the 7 line tracks and crashed through his windshield in Woodside.
In all, there have been eight reported incidents of debris falling from elevated tracks in the city this year.
The MTA says it will physically hand-check all 325,000 of the system’s containment baskets, like the one that should have caught yesterday’s falling D-wedge, over the next seven days.
“We are taking aggressive action to proactively prevent debris from dislodging and to catch it if it does come loose,” said Byford in a statement. “Any of my team found to be derelict in maintaining or inspecting safety equipment, including elevated structure containment baskets, will be held fully accountable.”
The MTA announced earlier this month that approximately $200 million in the agency’s new Capital Plan would go toward additional safety netting to catch falling debris. The nets have already been installed in Jamaica along the J/Z line, Astoria under the N/W and Flushing under the 7 train.
The MTA has also said it will review footage captured along elevated tracks by track geometry inspection cars, which are outfitted with equipment to inspect the tracks, over the coming week.
