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.

"We do have an investigator that is in New York looking into the cause of

the accident on the Long Island Rail Road on Aug. 5," National Transportation

Safety Board spokesman Terry Williams said last night.

Natalie Smead, 18, was killed at the Woodside Station after she fell

through the space between the train and platform and was hit by an oncoming

train after crawling under the platform. Recent reviews of gap widths by

Newsday show the gap is as much as 15 inches wide at some LIRR stations.

The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent federal agency

that investigates plane crashes and other civil transportation accidents.

There are two New York State Department of Transportation investigations

under way related to the accident and other safety issues on the LIRR and

Metro-North Railroad. LIRR officials also have begun a separate census of gap

widths at all 124 LIRR stations. Results of that is not expected until the end

of the year.

The LIRR also has stepped up a public awareness campaign and is looking

into installing movable platforms at problem stations to fill the gap.