(The Associated Press circulated the following article on October 18.)
MELVILLE, N.Y. — Faced with increased scrutiny following the death of a Minnesota teenager, the Long Island Rail Road will reduce the gap between trains and platforms at eight stations, a spokeswoman for the railroad said.
The LIRR has already elevated the tracks at the Shea Stadium stop in Queens, and moved them as much as 4.5 inches toward the platform, spokeswoman Susan McGowan said. Similar changes will be made in at least seven other stations, she said.
The report of the plan, published Wednesday in Newsday, comes just as the railroad was to present the preliminary results of its investigation into the gaps, which it concedes do not always meet its own standard of seven to eight inches.
The National Transportation Safety Board is already conducting an investigation of the death of 18-year-old Natalie Smead, who slipped through an almost foot-wide gap on Aug. 5 and was struck by a train. Another inquiry by state transportation officials is expected to continue until at least February.
The other stations to be renovated are Jamaica, Deer Park, Hicksville, Huntington, Merillon Avenue, Mineola and New Hyde Park.
“These aren’t necessarily the worst locations, but they’re ones that in our measuring we have found to be out of compliance … and we are able to get track access to them without disrupting service,” McGowan said.
Even with the changes made at the Shea Stadium station, the railroad was unable to meet its standards for the size of the gap because of the curvature of the platform, McGowan said.
The spokeswoman attributed the unusually high number of gap-related incidents at the station to the inexperience of riders heading to baseball games. Daily commuters are more familiar with the trains, she said.