Coverage: The LIRR gap

Report finds teen responsible for LIRR gap fall

A state investigation into the death of a Minnesota tourist who fell into a Long Island Rail Road gap at the Woodside station found that the inebriated teen likely was responsible for her own death.

Warning given to cousin just before fatal gap fall

As Natalie Smead was about to step off the train at Woodside after a ride punctuated by laughter with friends and plastic cups of Red Bull and vodka, her cousin told her to be careful of the gap.

Work to narrow Woodside gap starts

Work began Saturday to narrow the gap between platform and train at the Long Island Rail Road's Woodside station in Queens, even as a New Hyde Park woman recovered from injuries suffered in a Friday fall through the gap at the station there.

Pols: Syosset LIRR station must be on list

A top Nassau County legislator has accused the Long Island Rail Road of ignoring dangerous gaps at the Syosset station -- a stop that a Newsday analysis shows has had at least 34 gap accidents since 1989 and ranks seventh among all stations for gap-related falls over the past 18 months.

LIRR GAPS A FAMILY'S STORY

Track safety adjustment underway

A rumbling machine crept along the LIRR track, lifting, shifting and shaking it. Behind the machine, rail workers stooped and measured. The result: The gap became smaller.

LIRR GAPS A FAMILY'S STORY

Father demands answers

Peter Smead wants to meet face to face with the Long Island Rail Road officials he blames for the death of his teenage daughter, believing that they should have done something long ago to fix the gaps between the platforms and trains.

Jamaica LIRR station to get gap fix

Track adjustments at the Jamaica LIRR station to lessen the space between trains and platforms are scheduled to start next week, the latest effort to address the railroad's systemwide gap issue.

Fixing its track record

They filled the gap.

Federal effort to bridge gap

A newly formed federal railroad safety task force is studying the gap issue after recent reports of a death and serious injuries attributed to the Long Island Rail Road's platform gaps.

A platform plunge

A former state senator became the latest victim of a Long Island Rail Road gap yesterday, breaking her ankle in a fall between a train and platform at Lawrence station.

Ad campaign targets gaps

"Watch the gap."

Tough cell for riders

Get your feet off the seats. Hang up that cell phone. And please, pick up your trash.

Parents say LIRR should do more to plug gaps

Parents who ride the Long Island Rail Road said yesterday that they hold their children tightly when boarding and exiting trains, but the railroad should do more to prevent falls such as that of 4-year-old Brittany Walker, who slipped through a gap Wednesday at Penn Station.

Girl, 4, falls into gap

A 4-year-old girl fell 4 feet onto the tracks through a gap between the platform and an LIRR train in Penn Station yesterday afternoon just before it was set to leave.

NTSB to look for LIRR gap 'patterns'

A federal investigation into the recent death of a teenager killed after she fell into the gap between the train and platform will look for "patterns of similarities" in related accidents on the Long Island Rail Road going back more than two years, officials said.

Schumer criticizes LIRR security

Adding to several recent calls for increased train safety on the Long Island Rail Road, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) criticized the LIRR Thursday for not installing closed-circuit cameras, bomb-resistant garbage cans, or making other "no-brainer" security improvements at most stations.

NTSB to probe teen's death at LIRR

The recent death of a Minnesota teenager on the tracks of a Long Island Rail Road station in Queens - already under scrutiny by local and state officials - now has the attention of the federal government.