POLITICS ON THE HUDSON

Cuomo, leaders announce rail-crossing deal

Joseph Spector
Albany Bureau Chief
The Pineview Road private railroad crossing in West Nyack. A car-carrier was hit by a CSX train at the crossing in December 2013.

ALBANY -- New York will expand safety measures at grade crossings as part of a package of bills set for approval this week.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders Monday announced an agreement that will require frequent inspections of traffic control devices at highway-rail crossings and penalize railroad companies and repeat offenders who violate the law.

The aim is to ensure New York's laws conform with federal regulations, Cuomo said.

"This agreement will help to reduce the amount of preventable tragedies that have occurred at these crossings over the years," Cuomo said in a statement.

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CUOMO: "I will not accept the premise that there is nothing we can do."

The announcement comes after a series of deadly crashes at rail crossings in New York.

In February 2015, an SUV drove onto the tracks in Valhalla, Westchester County, and was hit by a Metro-North Railroad train.  The SUV's driver, Ellen Brody, and five train passengers died.

"New Yorkers deserve upgraded signage, signals and safety inspections to make sure no family has to go through this anguish again," Senate Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeffrey Klein, D-Bronx said in a statement.

The bills will be approved this week before the legislative session ends at the end of the week.

The new legislation will require every railroad company, municipality and state agency to conduct inspections of traffic control devices at a minimum of every other year.

The state also plans to update laws to align with federal reporting requirements.

Those will include requiring private railroad companies to submit railroad bridge inspection reports to the state Department of Transportation on the same schedule as they do with the federal government -- which is done every year.

The state plans to increase penalties up to $5,000 against railroad companies for each violation of the law, which includes failure to notify the state of an accident or submit the required reports. The penalties would increase for repeat offenders, Cuomo and the lawmakers said.

For drivers, they will face a fine up to $750 for a second offense of driving through a train signal and $1,000 for a third offense within 30 months.

Cuomo also said the state will launch a public-awareness campaign about the dangers of rail crossings.

In February, the Federal Railroad Administration asked states to check their rail-crossing systems -- of which there are 5,000 nationwide, including 117 in New York.