(Newsday posted the following article by Emerson Clarridge on its website on September 29.)
NEW YORK — Amid calls from passengers to immediately address the issue of dangerous gaps at Long Island Rail Road stations, authorities Friday said there would be no quick fix.
In the latest accident, Carol Berman, 83, a former state senator, remained hospitalized Friday night from injuries she sustained Thursday after falling through the gap as she stepped off a train at the Lawrence station.
Berman, who underwent surgery on her broken ankle Friday, is among more than 100 riders who have been injured in gap falls in the past two years. The LIRR, as well as state and federal officials, launched a probe into the gap problem after the gap-related death last month of a teenage tourist in Woodside.
The state Department of Transportation said it was continuing to look into ways to fix the gaps, which a Newsday investigation found are as wide as 15 inches at some stations — twice the railroad’s standard. The gap on the platform where Berman fell was about 10 inches.
DOT spokeswoman Jennifer Nelson said the agency would not be rushed into making recommendations. Its findings will not be released until early next year, she said. “We have a lot of stations that we need to look at,” she said.
Frustrated passengers waiting for trains at the Lawrence station Friday urged officials to act swiftly to correct a problem that they said was abundantly clear.
“Why investigate? The problem is there, everyone knows it. If you’re fixing it, fix it,” said Michael Diamond, 42, of Atlantic Beach, a banker in Manhattan who rides an LIRR train every day to Penn Station.
LIRR officials Friday said they were focused on passenger education, while investigators considered the engineering implications of making structural changes to either the platforms or trains. They said they would not act prematurely.
“We can’t go the opposite way and have trains striking platforms,” LIRR spokeswoman Susan McGowan said. She said that the railroad had recently implemented several short-term solutions intended to educate passengers of the gap danger.
Workers stenciled “watch the gap” warnings on the edge of the platform at the Shea Stadium station on Thursday in advance of Mets playoff games. Similar announcements and placards have been made at other stations, McGowan said.
Commuter advocates said they expected the state to make some structural changes but cautioned that even if gap fillers are recommended, the design and bidding process could take a year to complete.
“You’re dealing with a state agency,” said Gerry Bringmann, the chairman of the LIRR Commuter’s Council. “That’s just the way it is.”
At Woodside station Friday, Francesco Cacchi, 60, said the LIRR should not wait for the investigations to be complete. “Where the accidents happened, they already know there is a problem, so they can start fixing those places,” he said.