MTA: Montauk train hit abandoned vehicle on tracks
One train was canceled and others added stops to accommodate passengers after a train struck an abandoned car on the Long Island Rail Road in Montauk early Tuesday, a railroad spokesman said.
The accident occurred at 3:57 a.m. at a grade-level crossing in the vicinity of Hither Hills State Park, a location west of the Montauk Station, spokesman Salvatore Arena said.
There were nine passengers on the train, the 1:11 a.m. train from Jamaica to Montauk. None were injured.
Arena said the Metropolitan Transportation Authority police and local firefighters responded to the scene.
The accident caused a delay of about 21/2 hours, with responders needing more than an hour to separate the wreckage from the train.
The accident forced the cancellation of the westbound 5:39 a.m. train from Montauk to Long Island City.
The railroad advised customers to use Speonk or Ronkonkoma lines as alternates; it also said the 7:12 a.m. train from Speonk to Hunterspoint Avenue added stops at Hicksville and Mineola to accommodate customers from the canceled train. The 6:57 a.m. train from Port Jefferson to Hunterspoint Avenue also was scheduled to stop at Long Island City to accommodate customers from the canceled train.
The railroad said the investigation into how the vehicle came to be abandoned on the tracks is continuing.
NewsdayTV's ultimate holiday shopping show With everything from shopping small to the hottest gifts, even where to eat while you are on a mall marathon, NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have it covered.
NewsdayTV's ultimate holiday shopping show With everything from shopping small to the hottest gifts, even where to eat while you are on a mall marathon, NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have it covered.
