New York rail safety in spotlight after deadly crash

Safety on one of America's busiest commuter rail services was called into question Wednesday after a packed passenger train slammed into a jeep, killing six people north of Manhattan.
The woman driver of a jeep and five passengers on the Metro North train were killed in Tuesday's rush-hour accident, which ripped up tracks and saw a railroad car explode.
Fifteen other people were injured, seven of them seriously, in what should have been a monotonous but totally safe journey home to the suburbs after a busy working day in America's largest city.
The cause of the crash is under investigation and part of the Metro North Harlem line has been suspended until further notice with alternative buses laid on for commuters Wednesday.
"The train cars cannot be removed until the on-scene investigation is complete, and they will need to be removed before service can be restored," said Metro North.
It was the worst of three deadly crashes in less than two years on what is one of America's busiest commuter rail lines, carrying around 280,000 passengers a day.
In December 2013, a train travelling nearly three times the recommended speed derailed in the Bronx when the driver briefly nodded off. Four people were killed and 67 passengers injured.
In May 2013, two commuter trains collided at rush hour in Fairfield, Connecticut, injuring more than 70 passengers and severed a key rail link.
Last year, the National Transportation Safety Board criticized Metro North Railroad for safety management problems it said were present in five accidents between May 2013 and March 2014.
"Metro-North and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have much work yet to do," said NTSB acting chairman Christopher Hart.
A report highlighted safety gaps at Metro-North and New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and failings in Federal Railroad Administration regulations, inspection and oversight.
-'Ugly and brutal sight'-
Had previous NTSB recommendations been implemented by the FRA, many of the safety issues encountered in these accidents could have been prevented, the report said last November.
The train slammed into the SUV vehicle around 6:30 pm (2330 GMT) on Tuesday, triggering an explosion and fire.
The blast caused the electrified third rail of the train tracks to rise and ram through the train, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
"This is a truly ugly and brutal sight," he said.
The train had departed from Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan and the collision occurred in Valhalla, just outside New York.
Pictures posted on Twitter showed a train car ablaze with thick black smoke billowing into the evening sky.
Others showed what appeared to be the same carriage, gutted by smoke and fire and with its windows shattered.
Frantic passengers had to evacuate by breaking glass on the doors to get out, passenger Neil Rader told NBC television. He added that he saw 50 to 60 ambulances at the scene.
"I've never seen anything quite like it," he said.
Justin Kaback, 26, a passenger in the third train car, was doing his daily commute home when the train felt like it hit a bump, he told The Wall Street Journal.
But then people began entering his car from the front of the train, reporting gas smells.
"I started moving," Kaback said. "Nobody wanted to yell out, 'The train's on fire' because there would have been a panic."