Kreindler Prosecuting Spuyten Duyvil Bronx Metro-North Railroad Derailment Cases

Kreindler partners Andrew Maloney and David Cook are representing several injured passengers and the family of a passenger killed in the 2013 MTA train derailment near Spuyten Duyvil in the Bronx.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded the train operator exceeded the safe speed for a dangerous curve and caused the train to derail and nearly end up in the Harlem River. Four people were killed and dozens were injured. The NTSB investigation further concluded that Metro North was reckless in its failure to employ positive control safety technology that would have automatically slowed the train in certain dangerous portions of the track in case of human error by the operator which was also cited as a cause of the accident.

Additional reports have indicated the operator did not get enough sleep and suffered from other known physical problems that contributed to his inattention at the time the train was approaching the curve too fast.

The firm was able to successfully resolve three of the cases with Metro-North and the MTA, but other cases have not resolved. An action in one of the cases was commenced in the Bronx Supreme Court earlier this year and is proceeding through discovery toward trial.

The case highlights the available and necessary safety technology the MTA should have employed to avoid train disasters such as this one.

Photo Credit: Spuyten Duyvil railroad bridge, Dwayne Bent