Panel To Study Platform Gaps

BOSTON — Government, railroad and public transit officials are studying whether to set federal safety standards for the width of gaps between commuter rail passenger platforms and train doorways — an issue that gained visibility in part because of last summer's death of a Long Island Rail Road passenger who fell onto the tracks.

A task force of the Federal Railroad Administration that reviews passenger safety issues will hold an initial meeting in Cambridge today and Wednesday to gather information and consider potential safety measures.

Risks from platform gaps gained widespread attention in the New York City area after 18-year-old Natalie Smead, of Northfield, Minnesota, was killed last August at an LIRR station when she stepped off the train and fell between the gap. When she tried to crawl under the platform and climb up the other side, she was struck by an LIRR train heading the opposite direction.

A Federal Railroad Administration spokesman, Warren Flatau, said his agency was reviewing safety issues involving boarding and exiting trains before Smead's death.

"But it gained additional currency because of the death and the attention it is receiving in New York on the LIRR," Mr. Flatau said yesterday.

Representatives of the rail industry and public transit agencies including the LIRR are expected to share information at the Cambridge meeting.