Auditor says repair crews on NY train line get little or no supervision, fail to document work

A transportation official says railroad maintenance crews get little or no supervision and fail to document their work on a New York commuter line where six people died in a fiery crash in February.

The New York Post reports Monday (http://bit.ly/1GD00x4 ) that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's inspector general says Metro-North maintenance crews sometimes don't even receive assignments.

A Metro-North train struck an SUV stopped on the tracks on Feb. 3, causing pieces of the electrified third rail to spear the vehicle and train.

Many of the problems in the review were brought to the railroad's attention in 2001, but were not properly addressed. That audit found a lack of record-keeping for equipment failures and repair work and reported that Metro-North was not keeping track of the work by crews during their shifts.

However, Inspector General Barry Kluger's office says Metro-North's new management "clearly recognizes the seriousness of the issue."

Metro-North spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said the agency is working to fix the problems by establishing a computer-based system of record-keeping to track work that's assigned and completed.