Following last week’s four-alarm fire underneath Metro-North Railroad’s Park Avenue Viaduct in New York City that resulted in a few days of significant commuting delays, a New York state senator from the Hudson Valley has introduced legislation that calls for the review of elevated tracks.
Republican Senator Terrence Murphy’s bill directs the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to study and report on potentially hazardous structures and storage areas under elevated train tracks as well as study and report on the commuter notification system. New York City fire officials say it was fuel spilled onto a generator that sparked the blaze at a garden center under the tracks in East Harlem. The fire did not cause any damage to Metro-North’s tracks, signals, or third rail power system. Murphy says his bill is about safety, and that a number of propane tanks also were found beneath the tracks.
