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New York City Worker Electrocuted In Subway Rail Accident

A New York City transit worker was killed in the Rockaways on April 26, marking the first NYC transit worker fatality in the past three years. Initial reports say that the man was working on the rail when he slipped, fell, and touched the dangerous third rail.

The NY subway worker, 45-year-old James Knell, of East Rockaway, New York, had 13 years of experience working on the subway system and was a maintenance supervisor. On the morning of April 26, he was working the 90th Street station of the A line and assisting those who were repairing a track in time for the busy morning commute. However, the worker slipped and fell onto the high voltage third rail, electrocuting him immediately. He was working on elevated tracks in Queens. He was filling in for another worker at the time of the on-the-job accident, and some say he shouldn’t have been working in rainy conditions.

The power was switched on before a protective board was placed over the third rail near where Knell was working. He was going to get a bucket of spikes left out on the rails and could have slipped on loose, wet gravel.

Knell leaves behind a wife, high school sweetheart Jackie, and two 10-year-old stepchildren. New York City Transit Authority will be investigating the NYC worker death.

NY Transit workers Daniel Boggs and Marvin Franklin died while on the job in NYC in 2007. Since then the Transit Authority has tightened safety measures to prevent future accidents.

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