Valhalla train crash report leaves much unanswered: Editorial

For almost two-and-a-half years, this region waited for the National Transportation Safety Board to explain what caused the deadly Valhalla train crash of Feb. 3, 2015. What's more, commuters and all affected have been anxious to finally learn the risk of similar accidents occurring at other rail crossings, and whether action needs to be taken to prevent such tragedies in the future.

Well, the NTSB released its findings on Tuesday. We learned almost nothing beyond the obvious observation that the driver of a vehicle is at fault when it and a train on tracks collide. 

After 29 months, the federal investigative agency's report echoed what was known, in a general sense, on Feb. 4, 2015.

NTSB blamed the accident on Ellen Brody, the Edgemont woman who inexplicably drove her SUV onto the Harlem Line track at the Commerce Street crossing, in the path of an oncoming train.

NTSB REPORT: Driver blamed for Valhalla Metro-North crash

THIRD RAIL: Powering system implemented 100-plus years ago

MOUNT PLEASANT: Town pushes for closure of deadly crossing

The NTSB also told us that the penetration of the deadly third rail into the lead passenger car "contributed to the severity of the accident," which took the lives of Brody and five commuters, and injured 28.

Why did the electrified third rail peel up during the crash and pierce the front train cab? And to the heart of commuters' concerns: Could it happen again?

NTSB wasn't quiet on the issue, but the agency also wasn't specific. The agency recommended that Metro-North conduct "risk assessments" at grade crossings with third rail systems and implement correctives to reduce the risk of future accidents. It suggested that the state Department of Transportation assess intersections near rail crossings and make necessary adjustments. And it recommended that the Town of Mount Pleasant "take action" to improve grade crossing safety.

Assessing risk and taking action are fine ideas. Obvious ideas. Couldn't the NTSB have suggested that all agencies begin taking these basic steps in 2015? Risk assessments could be completed by now.  A conversation could already be underway about how to modify grade crossings — if modifications were deemed to be necessary.

The NTSB is due to release its full report in the next several days. But its executive summary hardly includes a word that could not have been written a year ago, maybe two years ago.

The summary seems to go out of its way to avoid the pressing questions so many have: Was the Valhalla tragedy a fluke, or something that could realistically reoccur without modifications? Should state and federal agencies consider spending enormous amounts of money to modify rail crossings, particularly in third-rail systems?

Why did the NTSB take so long to produce findings that say so little? At a board meeting in Washington on Tuesday, officials said the agency was busy investigating other rail accidents, like a 2015 Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia and a 2015 electrical malfunction that filled a Washington, D.C., subway station with smoke. 

But the agency had an obligation to work faster. Metro-North, the Town of Mount Pleasant, the state Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have been waiting for the NTSB to release its findings. 

As  Acting NTSB Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt himself said when releasing the Valhalla findings: "Any railroad passenger has the right to expect that everything possible is being done to assure their safety." He didn't say "...will eventually be done."

The Town of Mount Pleasant did a traffic study after the tragedy and concluded that it might be wise to shut down two rail crossings. Since the NTSB has now recommended, in vague terms, that the town "take action based on the results of your traffic study," Town Supervisor Carl Fulgenzi is left to assume he should pursue the closing of at least the Commerce Street station, a complex process that would require the support of the MTA and state Department of Transportation.

Any modification, such as the building of a bridge for the roadway or the railroad, would be difficult and expensive. We still don't know if such a change is necessary. Maybe we'll have some indication by the third anniversary of the accident. Or the fourth.

The state's response has been uneven. Improvements have been made at some downstate grade crossings; the state has more than 5,000 such road-rail intersections. Gov. Andrew Cuomo called in early 2016 for the elimination of all grade crossings on commuter rail lines, saying New Yorkers should be "ashamed" that such crossings still exist. In November 2016, he signed a bill, sponsored by state Sen. David Carlucci, D-New City, and Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti, D-Mount Pleasant, that required the state Transportation Department to do a definitive statewide study of rail crossings, including their safety and possible design changes to increase safety.

The DOT report was due by April 1, 2017. But there's no report filed, and it's unclear what's been done. Abinanti said he has tried to check the status of the study, but the DOT won't respond. "We need to take action," Abinanti said.

DOT Commissioner Matthew Driscoll, appointed by Cuomo five months after the Valhalla crash, needs to provide answers.

As far as explaining Ellen Brody's behavior on the tragic night of Feb. 3, NTSB officials were as mystified, as conflicted, as so many others. Why would she drive onto the grade crossing, leave her SUV to see where a crossing arm came down on the back of her vehicle, and then get back inside pull up onto the track? Sumwalt pushed the board to say that Brody had "lost situational awareness," meaning that she was somehow distracted and didn't realize she was at a railroad crossing. Another board member said there was no evidence for such a conclusion. 

Brody's husband, Alan Brody, continues to blame the outdated design of the rail crossing for the accident, accusing the NTSB of avoiding the real issue. His wife had been diverted there because of an accident on the Taconic State Parkway, which she normally took home from work.

Unfortunately, it's hard to know whether Alan Brody may have some valid points. A whole bunch of risk assessments of rail crossings will have to be done first. May the process finally begin.