MTA to spend up to $200k on sleep experts

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will spend up to $200,000 on a sleep apnea expert in response to last year’s fatal crash on the Metro-North Railroad.

MTA Metro-North Railroad officials said Monday that Persante Health Care Inc. of Mount Laurel, NJ would provide testing and evaluations of train conductors for a 7-month-long pilot program.

“This pilot will go a long way to ensuring safety of our customers as well as improving the overall health of our employees,” said Railroad President Joseph Giulietti

Some 430 engineers would be screened by the railroad’s health services department. Cases requiring further screening would be sent to Persante Health Care and supplied with an at-home sleep test.

In October, investigators concluded that the tragic Metro-North derailment in 2013 was caused by the conductor’s nodding off just before the train curved near the Spuyten Duyvil station.

Four passengers died and 61 were injured in the crash.