January 14, 2013

Union of Subway Drivers Urges Slower Train Speeds

By MATT FLEGENHEIMER

The union representing subway operators has advised its workers to drastically reduce their trains’ speed as they enter stations, a directive prompted by the recent deaths of two people who were shoved in front of oncoming subway trains.

In a flier distributed to operators in recent days, the Transport Workers Union Local 100 said that preventing a subway accident, “and saving yourself the emotional trauma and potential loss of income that go with it, is worth a few extra minutes on your trip.”

Operators were urged to “enter every station as if there is a pair of yellow lanterns at the entrance,” a scenario that would call for trains to observe a speed limit of 10 miles per hour, and for operators to sound a horn.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has opposed any speed change and said that any effort to comply with the flier would be a violation of work rules. On Saturday, the authority sent a message to Local 100 directing it to “cease posting these unauthorized notices.”

A slower pace, the agency said on Monday, would not only hinder on-time performance but also lead to fewer trips for trains in a given day.

“Fewer trips is going to translate into more crowded trains and more crowded platforms,” said Charles Seaton, a spokesman for the authority.

Mr. Seaton said the authority had no evidence that operators were deliberately driving more slowly. “It would be considered an illegal job action,” he said. But John Samuelsen, Local 100’s president, said in an interview Monday that operators had already begun “approaching the stations at a more cautious speed.”

The union also sent a letter last week to Thomas F. Prendergast, the authority’s interim executive director and the president of New York City Transit, outlining a series of safety proposals. One measure would require a posted speed restriction of 10 m.p.h. at every station entrance. Currently, trains enter some stations at roughly 30 m.p.h., Mr. Seaton said.

Other proposals include allowing passengers on platforms to turn on a “safety warning light,” visible to train operators as they approach a station, if someone tumbles onto the tracks; holding a design competition soliciting ideas to improve platform safety; and conducting an information campaign on what riders should do if they or others fall from the platform. (The union’s answer, for the person on the tracks: lie down “in the trough” if there is no time for an escape.)

Though roughly one person a week dies on the tracks, the two recent shoving-related deaths have placed increased scrutiny on platform safety. In the more recent case, Sunando Sen, 46, was killed on Dec. 27 after being pushed in the path of a No. 7 train at the 40th Street-Lowery Street station in Queens. On Monday, Erika Menendez, 31, was indicted by Richard A. Brown, the Queens district attorney, on murder charges in Mr. Sen’s death after being found fit to stand trial.

In 2012, 55 people died after being hit by trains, many in suicides. Train operators have said that a “12-9” — transit shorthand for a person under a train — can exact a powerful psychological toll.

The authority has indicated that it would consider testing sliding doors at station platforms on a pilot basis, perhaps beginning at L train stations, though no timeline had been set on a possible installation.

Mr. Samuelsen said on Monday that the authority’s position on train speeds “is acknowledging that rider safety is a second priority to them.”

The authority argued that the implementation of some of the union’s proposals could decrease safety if platforms and trains became overcrowded.

“There are other, more effective ways of making the system safer,” Mr. Seaton said.