Cause sought in LIRR sideswipe incident

Investigators are trying to determine what caused two Long Island Rail Road trains to collide in Queens on Friday. As News 12 has reported, an eastbound train to Huntington clipped a westbound train

News 12 Staff

Jul 21, 2015, 1:27 AM

Updated 3,363 days ago

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Investigators are trying to determine what caused two Long Island Rail Road trains to collide in Queens on Friday.
As News 12 has reported, an eastbound train to Huntington clipped a westbound train from Montauk at around 6 p.m. near the Jamaica station. No injuries were reported, but train schedules were disrupted during the evening rush.
LIRR President Patrick Nowakowski discussed the sideswipe collision at an LIRR committee meeting in Queens on Monday. He said investigators are trying to determine if it was possibly a human error or if there was an issue with the switching system.
Nowakowski said a computer switching system was installed back in 2010.
LIRR passengers who attended the meeting criticized the railroad for poor communication. However, the LIRR said that it sent out hundreds of emails, tweets and texts to keep riders up to date.
LIRR committee officials said they expect a full report on the accident at their next meeting on Sept. 21.