Six months after an 88-year-old Lindenhurst woman tragically lost her life on the escalator at the Lindenhurst train station, the escalator has finally reopened.
The Long Island Rail Road had announced at the end of August that its escalator testing and refurbishment at the Lindenhurst station would be soon completed, and the escalator would return to service during the week of August 27. Escalator Stair Stepper
As of the end of last week, the escalator appeared to still be closed to the public.
However, the LIRR made good on its promise this week, and the escalator was finally reopened.
"We know it's been a long haul and we're grateful for our customers' patience," said Joe Calderone, executive vice president for customer service for the LIRR, told Newsday. "Like all the older escalators in our system, it required major component replacements, and that took time."
The woman's death in March prompted the LIRR to not only look at the escalator at the Lindy station, but at all 19 escalators at its Long Island train stations.
The LIRR also hired a new company to perform maintenance and repairs on them, according to Newsday.
The LIRR equipped the Lindy station, along with seven other stations, with brand-new, modern safety sensors, new or refurbished steps, new step chains, break assemblies, and top and bottom comb plates and controllers.
The new parts will allow for remote monitoring and control of the escalators, according to the LIRR.
Specifically at the Lindenhurst station, according to Newsday, the escalator now includes sensors at the sides, every 10 feet, that shut down the system if they detect something is caught in the moving stairs. Previously, the escalator had such sensors only near the top and the bottom.
The LIRR also added sensors at the top and bottom "comb plates," according to Newsday. Previously, sensors detected only horizontal pressure - as if something was pushing the plates back. Now they also detect vertical pressure - as if something is caught underneath and pushing them up.
In addition, the LIRR also reduced the weight threshold that triggers the sensors from 150 pounds to 60 pounds.
"The LIRR has been diligently working to upgrade the safety features and rehabilitate these escalators so they can be placed back in service as quickly as possible," said MTA spokesperson Sam Zambuto in a release on the MTA LIRR website.
"We're very aware this needed work has caused significant inconvenience to many of our customers. However, safety is our number-one priority. We're making significant progress, and are confident we'll return many, if not all, of these escalators to service during September," he continued in that release posted in August.
According to Newsday, all told 11 of the LIRR's escalators were taken out of service for several weeks as improvements were made, and six remain out of service. The LIRR now hopes to have them all back in operation by November.
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