Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NTSB: SUV Driver Was In Crossing For 30 Seconds Before Metro-North Train Struck
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 6, 2015
Modified Feb 6, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Getty Images
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 6, 2015
Modified Feb 6, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The National Transportation Safety Board is continuing its investigation into the fatal crash between an SUV and a Metro-North train in Westchester County, but they have released some new details. Yesterday NTSB Vice Chairman Robert Sumwalt said the SUV driver was in the crossing at Commerce Street in Valhalla for 30 seconds.
Ellen Brody, 49, was driving home in her Mercedes SUV when she stopped in the tracks. According to the driver right behind her, Rick Hope, deputy commissioner of the White Plains Department of Public Works, "they were inching down the hill when the crossing gate, with its lights flashing, came down and hit the roof of the woman's car before sliding off and getting stuck on the back."
Hope spoke with the Journal News:
"There was no one behind me, so I backed up to make sure she had room. I thought she would back up too," he said, "but she got out of her car, walked back, and was touching the gate. What struck me was how calm she was — she didn't seem to be panicking, or in a hurry at all, even though the gate was down. She wasn't in a hurry at all, but she had to have known that a train was coming."
Hope, who lives in Yorktown, said he and many other drivers were taking a shortcut on Commerce Street to avoid an accident on Cleveland Street.
While Brody was out of her car, he said, "she looked directly at me. I motioned her to come back toward me. I don't know if she could see me though — my headlights were on. Instead of walking toward me, she got back into her car, so I backed up some more, again, thinking that she would back up too."
Instead, he said, there was a pause, and Brody shifted her car into drive.
"As soon as it began to move forward, the train hit," he said, shuddering at the memory. "There was a terrible crunching sound, and just like that, the car was gone. Disappeared. It happened instantly. There's no way she could have known what hit her."
Hope also spoke to the NTSB, and Sumwalt said, "The accident driver then entered her vehicle and sat there for a moment, and he described it as if she had enough time to put on her seatbelt. The accident driver suddenly pulled forward and as she did so, the train struck her car."
Hope says that Brody's SUV wasn't completely in the tracks until she moved forward. Brody and five passengers in the train's first car—Robert Dirks; Walter Liedtke; Joseph Nadol; Aditya Tomar; Eric Vandercar—were killed.
When the 5:44 p.m. train from Grand Central, due in the Southeast station at 7:08 p.m., barreled into the SUV, the train was going 58 mph. The engineer tried to hit the brakes, but it was too late. The train still pushed the SUV 950 feet past the crossing, and a 400-foot long piece of the third rail pierced the first Metro-North train car "like a skewer" (photo). The train car also went up in flames, apparently from gasoline from the SUV.
The NY Times reports, "While many rail agencies draw electricity using a metal piece — called the shoe — that runs along the top of the third rail, Metro-North uses a shoe that runs underneath the third rail. That configuration allows the shoe to avoid the ice that sometimes collects on top of the third rail in cold weather."
Sumwalt said, "What we have here is we have a mosaic and we are going to take different pieces of information, pull it all together... and see what that picture looks like."
Tagged
ellen brody
metro north
metro-north crash
ntsb
westchester
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Early Addition: New Jersey considering a ban on chewing gum because of microplastics
Because New Jersey is just trying to keep its people safe, here are your early links: Early voters get a spooky sticker, Tom Hanks returning to Broadway, a time capsule letter to the NYC mayor in 2026 and more.
By
James Ramsay
Published Oct 23, 2026 at 8:48 a.m. ET
Queens mother charged with murdering her son after failed suicide attempt, NYPD says
Sukken Wong, 62, allegedly stabbed her nonverbal son, Byran Wong, 25, to death.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
News
Queens mother charged with murdering her son after failed suicide attempt, NYPD says
Sukken Wong, 62, allegedly stabbed her nonverbal son, Byran Wong, 25, to death.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Your guide to voting in New York's 2026 elections for governor and Congress
By
Walter Wuthmann
,
Jon Campbell
and
Brigid Bergin
Forest Hills Stadium can keep its concerts under deal with neighbors
By
Ryan Kost
NYC Council to grill Mamdani officials on collapsed Hunts Point Produce Market deal
By
Elizabeth Kim
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .