(The Associated Press circulated the following on January 26.)
MELVILLE, N.Y. — In its latest strategy to protect riders from potentially dangerous gaps between platforms and trains, the Long Island Rail Road planned to keep some train doors closed at certain stations.
The effort was to start Friday at the Flatbush Avenue station in Brooklyn and extend soon to other stations, said Acting LIRR President Ray Kenny. He handed out fliers about the upcoming change at the Flatbush Avenue station Thursday night.
“I just want to demonstrate my commitment to solving the problem and be out in front of it,” Kenny said.
The platform gaps have been under scrutiny since 18-year-old Natalie Smead was killed after falling through one at an LIRR station last summer. The railroad recently started tightening gaps at several stations, and officials said last week that they planned to make improvements at 100 of the railroad’s 262 platforms.
At the Flatbush Avenue station, doors will open only in the first six cars of trains arriving on Track 2, and the first four cars of trains arriving on Tracks 3 and 4.
LIRR spokeswoman Susan McGowan said that where doors are staying closed, the gaps measure between 11 inches and 15.5 inches.