Schumer Addresses Concerns Over Freight Train Debris

United States Senator Charles Schumer, joined by Mineola residents from the Birchwood Court residential complex, called on the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Monday to launch a safety investigation into reports that uncovered freight cars are transporting loose debris on Long Island Rail Road tracks and have and ended up on private property.

Schumer, in a letter to the FRA, raised major safety concerns for local residents whose property abuts the tracks and for the implications of loose debris on commuter rail tracks that transport hundreds of thousands of Long Island residents in and out of New York on a daily basis.

The senator called for the FRA to mandate that any freight cars traveling through densely populated urban and suburban communities be required by federal rules, to cover cars carrying loose debris.

"The safety implications of uncovered debris traveling on commuter transit lines are too numerous to count," Schumer said. "Whether it is damage to private property surrounding the tracks or potential obstruction on commuter rail lines that carry hundreds of thousands of people in and out of New York City every day, carrying loose debris, uncovered in freight cars is a dangerous recipe for disaster and it must be stopped, now."

According to Schumer, at least two cars were damaged by pieces of scrap metal that appear to have been transported on LIRR tracks by freight train operators using uncovered cars.

In addition, Schumer pointed to numerous complaints that loose debris has wound up on property in and around the tracks, in particular on private property at the Birchwood Court residential complex in Mineola.

Freight carrier New York and Atlantic Railways has a contract with the LIRR to operate its trains on the commuter track during off-peak hours, according to Schumer's office.

Multiple residents, after witnessing scattered debris along the perimeter of the property that borders the tracks, identified several instances of freight trains carrying what appeared to be construction debris in uncovered in cars. Residents, concerned about the safety implication of the loose debris, have begun to photographically document the uncovered cars to highlight their concerns to officials.

Schumer is asking the FRA to launch an immediate investigation into the safety implications of freight carriers transporting uncovered loose debris on the LIRR in residential neighborhoods.

New York and Atlantic Railways were called out by the senator to immediately put in place a voluntary policy of covering open freight cars when traveling in highly populated areas. If the carrier refuses, Schumer wants the MTA and LIRR to compel the cars be covered as a requisite for continued use of the MTA's rail lines.