With the sheer number of New Yorkers that use public transportation every day, it should come as no shock that the majority of individuals believe public transportation is one of the safest modes there is. Countless deadly car crashes and truck accidents are reported each day, but rarely are there any bus or train accidents right? Wrong, and disturbingly, the numbers are only increasing. This sad truth is illuminated by the death of a 58-year-old Metro North employee struck by a train earlier this March which has people wondering how something like this could happen twice in less than a year.

James Romansoff, an eight-year employee of the railroad's power department, was restoring electricity to sections of the tracks in the early morning hours in March 2014. Romansoff, who was working on inactive tracks that had been closed over the weekend for maintenance, had to move beyond the protection of the inactive tracks to reach the equipment that controlled the supply of power. It was there that Romansoff was hit. A source said that the engineer of the train saw the man, sounded the horn and applied the emergency brakes but was unable to stop in time. Other men who were in Romansoff's crew escaped injury.

The fatality is particularly shocking because it comes as Metro-North is under increased federal scrutiny after accidents that left four passengers and a railroad foreman dead. Additionally, the incident came only seven days after the MTA unveiled its "100-Day Action Plan," a list of proposals to improve safety throughout Metro-North.

An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board has been enacted in an attempt to clear up uncertain details regarding the latest metro fatality, so until then questions remain unanswered.