On February 3, 2015, at 6:26 p.m. eastern standard time, a 2011 Mercedes Benz ML350
sport-utility vehicle driven by a 49-year-old woman, traveled northwest on Commerce Street in
Valhalla, New York, toward a public highway-railroad grade crossing on the Harlem Subdivision
of the Metro-North Railroad. Traffic on Commerce Street was heavy and congested when the
driver turned northeast and entered the boundary of the highway-railroad grade crossing and
stopped.1 The highway-railroad grade crossing consisted of two highway lanes (one for each
direction) and two railroad tracks, and was equipped with reflectorized pavement markings,
advance warning signs, flashing lights, and gates. The driver moved beyond the highway-railroad
grade crossing boundary (stop line) and stopped adjacent to the railroad tracks. The grade crossing warning system activated and the gate came down, striking the rear of her vehicle. She then exited her vehicle and examined the gate. The driver then returned to her vehicle and moved forward on to the tracks. Meanwhile, Metro-North Railroad passenger train 659, consisting of eight passenger railcars, traveled north and approached the highway-railroad grade crossing at a speed of 59 miles per hour. The engineer from train 659 activated the train’s emergency brakes about 260 feet before the highway-railroad grade crossing and collided with the sport-utility vehicle at a recorded speed of 51 miles per hour.
The train and the sport-utility vehicle continued northbound, resulting in the damage of the
electrified third rail on the west side of the track. The third rail detached, pierced the sport-utility
vehicle, and then entered the railcar. The train and the sport-utility vehicle came to rest about
665 feet from the point of collision. An estimated 343 feet of third rail penetrated the first
passenger railcar.
Metro-North Railroad estimated 645 passengers were onboard train 659 at the time of the
accident. Five passengers died and nine passengers and the engineer were injured, all in the lead
railcar. The driver of the sport-utility vehicle also died.
We determined that the probable cause of the accident was the driver of the sport-utility vehicle, for undetermined reasons, moving the vehicle on to the tracks while the Commerce Street highway-railroad grade crossing warning system was activated, into the path of Metro-North Railroad train 659. Contributing to the accident was the driver of the sport-utility vehicle: (1) stopping beyond the stop line, within the boundary of the highway-railroad grade crossing, despite warning signs indicating the approach to the grade crossing; and (2) reducing the available time to clear the grade crossing by exiting the vehicle after the grade crossing warning system activated because the driver’s attention was diverted by the grade crossing warning system crossing gate arm striking her vehicle. Contributing to the severity of the accident was the third rail penetrating the passenger compartment of the lead passenger railcar and the postaccident fire.
As a result of its investigation of this accident, the NTSB issued safety recommendations to the Federal Transit Administration, the Metro-North Railroad, the Long Island Rail Road, National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation, and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, the state of New York Department of Transportation, and the town of Mount Pleasant, New York.
