Every day, thousands of New Yorkers rely on trains to get to work, meet friends, and explore the city. Whether it’s the iconic subways of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), the PATH trains connecting New York and New Jersey, or national services like Amtrak, trains are an essential part of life in this vibrant metropolis.
Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station serve as central hubs for daily commuters and tourists alike, maintaining the rhythm of city life. However, when train accidents happen, they can disrupt lives in heartbreaking ways. What begins as a routine ride can end in life-altering injuries or wrongful death.
If you or a loved one has experienced the devastating consequences of a train accident, you may feel overwhelmed and unsure of where to turn. An experienced New York City train accident lawyer from The Rothenberg Law Firm, LLP, can help you recover the compensation you need to move forward.
Why Choose Rothenberg Law Firm for Your NYC Train Accident Case
At The Rothenberg Law Firm, we understand that a train accident is not just an event; it is a turning point that can leave families reeling. When our clients come to us, we see more than paperwork or legal claims––we see people enduring some of the darkest days of their lives. This is why we go beyond legal representation, committing to being a source of support at every step of the process.
For over five decades, our firm has built a reputation for excellence. We’ve recovered billions for injury victims because we stop at nothing to get our clients the justice and compensation they deserve. Not only do we have the experience and resources to take on major transit companies like the MTA and Amtrak, but we also have the heart to fight as though we’re advocating for a member of our own family. From the first phone call to the resolution of your case, you’ll feel the difference a compassionate and client-focused law firm makes.
What truly sets us apart is our willingness to go the distance. While some firms look for quick settlements, we prepare every case for trial. This ensures that when large railroad companies and their insurers fail to offer fair compensation, we are ready to hold them accountable in court. We are zealous advocates for our clients, whether that means negotiating aggressively or standing before a judge and jury.
Common Causes of Train and Subway Accidents in New York City
Train accidents can result from operating errors, defective equipment, unsafe tracks, station conditions, railroad-crossing hazards, or the conduct of a third party. More than one factor may contribute to the same accident.
Common causes include:
- Operator or crew error: A train operator, engineer, conductor, dispatcher, or other crew member may fail to follow a signal, observe a speed restriction, communicate important information, or respond appropriately to a developing hazard.
- Distracted, fatigued, or impaired operation: Fatigue, distraction, alcohol, drugs, or certain medications can interfere with an operator’s alertness, judgment, coordination, and reaction time.
- Train door and platform-clearance failures: A passenger may be injured when doors close while they are entering or leaving a train, an operator fails to confirm that the platform is clear, or a train begins moving before a passenger or personal item is safely clear of the doors. Defective door sensors, sensitive edges, controls, or propulsion interlocks may also contribute to an accident.
- Excessive speed or improper braking: A train may derail, collide with another object, or cause passengers to fall when it approaches a curve, station, work zone, signal, or obstruction too quickly.
- Track defects: Broken rails, unstable track beds, damaged ties, excessive wear, debris, and other track conditions can contribute to a derailment or collision.
- Switch or signal failures: An improperly aligned switch may direct a train onto the wrong track. A defective or incorrectly interpreted signal may create the risk of a collision, derailment, or unsafe train movement.
- Mechanical or electrical failures: Problems involving brakes, wheels, axles, propulsion systems, couplers, doors, lights, communications equipment, or other components can cause or worsen an accident.
- Inadequate inspection or maintenance: A railroad or contractor may fail to identify, document, repair, or respond to an unsafe condition affecting a train, track, signal, station, or crossing.
- Railroad-crossing hazards: A collision may involve missing or malfunctioning gates, flashing lights, bells, signs, or other warnings. Damaged crossing surfaces, poor roadway alignment, inadequate lighting, and obstructed sightlines may also contribute.
- Obstructed views at railroad crossings: Vegetation, structures, parked equipment, standing railcars, or another train may prevent a driver or pedestrian from seeing an approaching train until it is too late to stop safely.
- Vehicles or objects on the tracks: A stalled vehicle, construction equipment, improperly secured cargo, maintenance tools, debris, or another obstruction may cause a collision or derailment.
- Unsafe station or platform conditions: Inadequate lighting, overcrowding, broken stairs or railings, excessive platform gaps, slippery surfaces, construction hazards, and insufficient warnings may expose passengers to falls or contact with a train.
- Defective design or construction: A dangerous platform, crossing, signal system, train component, or track configuration may result from a design or construction problem rather than an operating error.
- Third-party conduct: A motorist, pedestrian, contractor, property owner, manufacturer, or another person or business may cause or contribute to a train accident.
A train accident does not automatically establish that the railroad or transit authority was negligent. Determining what happened may require train-operating data, surveillance video, signal and switch records, inspection documents, maintenance histories, witness accounts, and qualified expert analysis.
Types of Train and Subway Accidents
Train-related injury claims can arise from accidents aboard a train, on a platform, inside a station, along the tracks, or at a railroad crossing.
Common types of train and subway accidents include:
- Derailments: A train may leave the tracks because of excessive speed, track defects, switch problems, mechanical failures, or an obstruction.
- Train-to-train collisions: Two trains may collide because of signal failures, dispatch errors, improper switch alignment, excessive speed, or a failure to follow operating procedures.
- Train-to-object collisions: A train may strike a vehicle, maintenance equipment, debris, cargo, or another obstruction on the tracks.
- Door-entrapment accidents: A passenger’s body, clothing, bag, stroller, wheelchair, or other property may become caught in a closing door. An especially serious injury can occur if the train begins moving while the passenger or item remains trapped.
- Boarding and exiting accidents: Passengers may be injured because of an excessive gap, unexpected train movement, uneven platform height, defective steps, overcrowding, or inadequate assistance.
- Platform and track accidents: A person may fall onto the tracks, become trapped between a train and platform, or be struck by an entering or departing train.
- Sudden-movement accidents: A passenger may fall when a train starts, stops, accelerates, or changes direction. An ordinary movement associated with train travel does not necessarily establish negligence, but an unusual and violent movement may support a claim when the evidence connects it to unsafe operation or a defect.
- Railroad-crossing collisions: A train may collide with a car, truck, bus, cyclist, or pedestrian at a public or private crossing.
- Station and terminal accidents: Unsafe stairs, escalators, elevators, walkways, platforms, lighting, construction areas, or crowd-management practices may cause an injury.
- Freight-train accidents: Derailments, shifting cargo, unsecured loads, chemical releases, and collisions involving freight trains may injure workers, passengers, motorists, pedestrians, and nearby residents.
- Railroad employee accidents: Engineers, conductors, track workers, signal workers, maintenance personnel, and other employees may be injured because of defective equipment, unsafe work practices, inadequate staffing, or hazardous working conditions.
Each type of accident presents different legal and factual questions. The location, operator, train service, equipment involved, and identity of the injured person can determine which laws and filing requirements apply.
Common Train and Subway Accident Injuries
Train accidents can involve significant speed, heavy equipment, crowded stations, narrow platform spaces, and limited opportunities to avoid an impact.
Common injuries include:
- Traumatic brain injuries: A passenger or pedestrian may suffer a concussion, brain bleeding, brain swelling, or another traumatic brain injury after striking a train, platform, station surface, or other object.
- Spinal cord injuries: Damage to the spinal cord may cause weakness, loss of sensation, impaired mobility, or partial or complete paralysis.
- Neck and back injuries: Sudden movement, a fall, or a collision may injure muscles, ligaments, spinal discs, vertebrae, joints, and nerves.
- Broken bones and dislocations: Train accidents may cause fractures or dislocations involving the arms, wrists, shoulders, ribs, pelvis, hips, legs, knees, ankles, feet, or facial bones.
- Crush injuries: A person may become trapped between train doors, between a train and platform, beneath equipment, or between railcars or other objects.
- Amputations: Severe crush trauma or direct contact with a train may result in the loss of a limb at the scene or require surgical amputation.
- Internal injuries: Trauma to the chest, abdomen, or pelvis may damage organs or blood vessels and cause internal bleeding.
- Burns and electrical injuries: Fires, electrical systems, chemical releases, hot equipment, and damaged power infrastructure may cause burns or electrical trauma.
- Cuts, abrasions, and scarring: Broken glass, sharp metal, damaged station surfaces, and contact with the tracks or platform may cause deep wounds, infection, nerve damage, or permanent scarring.
- Soft-tissue and nerve injuries: Sudden train movement, falls, and impacts may damage muscles, tendons, ligaments, or nerves and interfere with movement or sensation.
- Hearing or vision injuries: An explosion, impact, electrical event, or head injury may damage a person’s hearing or vision.
- Emotional and psychological injuries: A serious train accident may contribute to anxiety, depression, sleep problems, or post-traumatic stress symptoms.
Some injuries are immediately apparent, while others develop or worsen during the hours or days following the accident. Prompt medical attention can protect the injured person’s health and document when the symptoms began.
Who May Be Responsible for a New York City Train Accident?
New York’s subway and railroad systems are not operated by one single legal entity.
The New York City Transit Authority, commonly presented to riders as MTA New York City Transit, operates the subway system. The Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad are separate MTA subsidiaries. PATH is connected to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, while Amtrak is a separate rail carrier.
The name displayed on a train, map, station sign, or website does not necessarily identify the correct legal defendant. Each entity can have different legal duties, claim procedures, and filing deadlines.
Depending on how the accident occurred, potentially responsible parties may include:
- The operating transit authority or railroad: The entity operating the train may be responsible for unsafe operation, inadequate training, poor maintenance, or other negligence.
- Train operators, engineers, conductors, dispatchers, and crew members: An employee’s unsafe operation, failure to follow signals, improper door operation, or failure to respond to a hazard may contribute to an accident.
- The owner or operator of tracks, signals, stations, or other infrastructure: Different entities may own, operate, inspect, or maintain the train and the infrastructure it uses.
- Maintenance and inspection contractors: A contractor may be responsible when its work created or failed to correct a dangerous condition.
- Equipment manufacturers and suppliers: A manufacturer, distributor, or seller may be responsible for a defective brake, wheel, axle, door system, signal component, warning device, or other product.
- Construction contractors: Construction work may create unsafe platforms, temporary walkways, track obstructions, signal problems, or other hazards.
- Motorists and vehicle owners: A driver who ignores a crossing signal, drives around a lowered gate, stops on the tracks, or otherwise acts negligently may cause a collision.
- Government entities responsible for roads or crossing infrastructure: A city, state agency, or other public entity may have legal responsibility for a dangerous roadway, traffic control, crossing design, or warning system in limited circumstances.
- Property owners or businesses near a crossing: A person or business whose vegetation, structure, equipment, or other property obstructed a required sightline may be responsible in appropriate circumstances.
- Cargo owners, loaders, and shipping companies: Improperly loaded or secured freight can shift, fall, leak, or cause a derailment.
- Other pedestrians or third parties: The conduct of another person may create an emergency or cause a passenger, operator, motorist, or pedestrian to be injured.
A party is not automatically liable merely because it owned property, performed work near the tracks, or was associated with the transit system. The evidence must establish that the party had a relevant legal duty and caused or contributed to the accident.
What Compensation May Be Available After a Train Accident?
The compensation available depends on the injuries, the claimant’s relationship to the railroad, the parties responsible, and the applicable insurance or public-authority rules.
Recoverable losses in a passenger, pedestrian, motorist, or other personal-injury claim may include:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Ambulance and hospital services
- Surgery
- Diagnostic testing
- Medication
- Physical and occupational therapy
- Psychological treatment
- Rehabilitation
- Nursing or personal-care assistance
- Medical equipment and assistive devices
- Home or vehicle modifications
- Transportation expenses
- Lost wages
- Lost employment benefits
- Reduced future earning capacity
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional and psychological effects associated with the injuries
- Permanent disability
- Scarring or disfigurement
- Loss of mobility or independence
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Damage to clothing, electronics, vehicles, or other property
- Certain losses sustained by a spouse when permitted under New York law
The same loss generally cannot be recovered twice. Payments from health insurance, disability insurance, workers’ compensation, FELA benefits, automobile insurance, or another source may create liens, offsets, or reimbursement issues.
A settlement should account for reasonably anticipated future medical care, reduced earning capacity, permanent limitations, and other long-term consequences rather than only the bills and lost income accumulated by the time an offer is made.
Fatal Train Accidents
When a train accident causes a death, a New York wrongful-death action is generally brought by the estate’s duly appointed personal representative for the benefit of the deceased person’s distributees.
Potential wrongful-death damages may include:
- Qualifying medical expenses
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Lost financial support
- Loss of household and other services
- Loss of parental guidance when supported by the evidence
- Other pecuniary losses recognized under New York law
A separate survival claim may seek compensation for the deceased person’s conscious pain, fear, and suffering between the accident and death.
New York wrongful-death law generally focuses on pecuniary losses. It does not ordinarily provide surviving relatives with a separate award solely for their grief.
Punitive damages should not be assumed to be available. They are exceptional, depend on the nature of the defendant and conduct, and may be unavailable against a public entity.
Contact Our New York City Train Accident Lawyers Today
If you’ve been injured in a train accident, The Rothenberg Law Firm can provide the guidance and legal support you need to secure the compensation you deserve. We are proud to support victims and their families across New York City with more than 50 years of experience handling complex personal injury cases.
Contact us today at (800) 624-8888 or through our online form for a free consultation with our experienced NYC persoanl injury lawyer. Together, we can work toward justice and put your life on the path to recovery.
The Rothenberg Law Firm - New York City Office
450 7th Ave 44th floor
New York, NY 10123
Ph: (516) 715-3658