Sen. Blumenthal comes dangerously close to moving train

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) had a close call with a Metro-North train while standing on a train platform for a press conference focused on commuter rail safety.

The senator is seen in a video on WTNH-TV standing inches away from the edge of the platform — on the yellow warning strip — as a train whizzes by the Milford station stop in Connecticut on Friday.

{mosads}At the press conference, Blumenthal announced new data that revealed Metro-North, a commuter rail service for New York and Connecticut, paid $552,000 in fines over the last decade for safety violations and defects. 

“While not every reported defect is a serious safety threat, the magnitude of violations is deeply troubling. Per 100 miles of track, Metro-North had five times the number of safety defects than any other commuter railroad in the country, a truly shameful record,” Blumenthal said in a statement. 

In the wake of a deadly train derailment in the Bronx last fall and one nearly a year ago in Connecticut, Blumenthal has been investigating Metro-North’s safety protocols, and have been urging transportation agencies to institute stricter safety standards.