$182M settlement reached in 2015 commuter train crossing crash that killed 6 in New York

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VALHALLA, N.Y. (AP) — A more than $182 million settlement has been reached with victims of a deadly 2015 collision between a train and an SUV at a suburban New York crossing.

The majority of the settlement with Metro-North Railroad goes to the families of five passengers killed when an SUV got stuck on the tracks in Valhalla, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of New York City, the Journal News reports.

About $79 million of the settlement will go to one specific passenger, based on their projected lifetime earnings, according to the newspaper. Payouts to the families of other passengers killed in the crash range from $35 million to $4 million.

The Journal News reviewed the settlement last week before it was sealed by a judge and no longer made available to the public.

A jury in 2024 found that Metro-North bore 71% of the liability for the five passengers’ deaths and the injuries of others, and 63% for the death of the SUV driver whose car was on the tracks. The jury specifically faulted the train engineer and the railroad’s oversight of the line’s electrified third rail.

Andrew Maloney, a lawyer for some of the roughly 30 injured passengers, said the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the commuter system that also serves parts of Connecticut, should have resolved the litigation sooner.

“This should have never taken 11 years,” he said Monday. “They dragged it out.”

Maloney added that problems identified with the third rail's design still have not been corrected all these years later.

The MTA declined to comment on the specifics of the settlement. But it said in a statement that it has continued to work with state and federal transportation officials on “material railroad crossing safety enhancements throughout the railroad network over the last decade.”

The Feb. 3, 2015, crash occurred during the evening rush hour as the SUV drove onto the tracks while navigating in backed-up traffic.

The crossing gate arm came down onto the vehicle and the driver ended up driving further onto the tracks.

The train smashed into the SUV at about 50 mph (80 kph) after the engineer hit the emergency brake only three seconds before the fiery collision. Parts of the railroad’s electrified third rail ripped off the ground, piercing the SUV’s gas tank and slicing into the train’s first passenger car.