TWU Local 100, NTSB Investigating Tragic Death of Member

Local 100 member Louis Gray was working on the subway tracks in the early morning hours of Nov. 3 when he was struck and killed by an oncoming train as he and another member, Jeffrey Fleming, tried to jump out of the way. Fleming survived.

TWU International Executive Vice President and Local 100 President John Samuelsen said that the men were attempting one of the riskiest maneuvers that Local 100 members must undertake to define safe zones for track work. “This happened out on a curve, working in the opposite direction of train traffic, setting up the flagging lights to give motormen notice a work crew was present,” he said. Several of the fatalities that the local has suffered in the past two decades were flaggers. This safety issue has been addressed several times over the last 15 years and important improvements have been made. However, this tragedy makes it obvious that there is more that must be done.

An investigation into the accident is ongoing and for the first time, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has taken the lead role in an investigation involving a track fatality at New York City Transit. A Local 100 team of safety representatives has been working with the Federal Transportation Administration and the Public Transportation Safety Board, in addition to the NTSB, to reconstruct what happened and why and to insure that it never happens again. Read more