LIRR train strikes, kills person on tracks at New Hyde Park station
Police investigate the scene where a pedestrian was struck at the New Hyde Park LIRR station on Monday. Credit: Howard Schnapp
A Long Island Rail Road train struck and killed a person on the tracks at the New Hyde Park station on Monday morning, according to railroad spokesman David Steckel.
Shortly after 9:15 a.m., Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police were notified that an eastbound train “had come into contact” with a person who was “unauthorized” to be on the tracks at the station, according to the MTA.
A police investigation found “no evidence of criminality” and “no evidence of it being an accident,” according to Steckel.
The LIRR had reported cancellations and delays on its Port Jefferson, Oyster Bay and Ronkonkoma. By 11 a.m. a railroad spokesman said full service had resumed through New Hyde Park.
Police and LIRR personnel in reflective orange vests huddled at the station Monday morning, as an eastbound train remained stopped on the south track.
On the north side, disrupted travelers, many carrying luggage, listened for service announcements, while others boarded emergency buses dispatched to the station.
Rick Sibrian said he was filling his tank at a nearby gas station, when the commotion began.
"I come down New Hyde Park and there's hundreds of people on the street," Sibrian, 40, said.
Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.
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