By Ivan Pereira
A Hempstead-bound train was switching tracks as it entered the station around 10 a.m. when its two rear cars collided with two rear cars of a Huntington-bound train that was already stationed at the platform, a Long Island Rail Road spokesman said.Although the two Hempstead cars derailed, none of the 19 riders inside them were injured, according to police.”The passengers in the two cars were evacuated out of the train onto the track since those cars were not on the platform,” said LIRR spokesman Joe Calderone.The two rear cars of the Huntington train were unoccupied, according to Calderone. The two trains' 290 other passengers got off safely using the platform.The police and LIRR said they had not determined a cause of the collision as of Tuesday and the investigation was ongoing.Calderone said the Huntington train was not fully on the platform, but that was not uncommon with LIRR trains.”Sometimes the trains are larger than the station,” he said.Transit crews worked round the clock to remove the derailed cars from the tracks and the service caused 35-minute delays well into the evening rush hour, another LIRR spokesman said.”I was supposed to be at an interview [in Rosyln, L.I.]. I called my employer and she understood,” said one rider who only wanted to be identified as Mindy, 24, of Springfield Gardens.The cars were put back on the tracks and shipped to a repair facility Friday night, according to a LIRR spokesman.Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
