Following a report linking two recent train derailments in the New York region to sleep apnea, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday called for the federal government to regulate the testing of the disorder as it relates to commuter railroads.
Obstructive sleep apnea was identified last week as the probable cause of a January 2017 Long Island Rail Road derailment at Atlantic Terminal as well as a similar New Jersey Transit crash in the Hoboken Terminal several months earlier, according to a study from the National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency in charge of public transportation accident investigations. One person died during the NJ Transit crash and more than 200 people were injured in both derailments combined.