The Nation - News from May 11, 1988

Drugs were detected in five Metro-North Commuter Railroad employees who were involved in a fatal collision between two trains, officials said. The engineer, Raymond Hunter, 42, of Stamford, Conn., who was killed in the April 6 crash in Mt. Vernon, N. Y., had marijuana in his blood and urine, the Federal Railroad Administration said. Block operators Peter Faber and George Torres, dispatcher Thomas Furlong and lever man William Jones tested positive for drugs and face disciplinary action, Metro-North officials said. Furlong had morphine in his blood and codeine in his urine and Jones had marijuana in his blood and urine, the agency said. Faber and Torres had a barbiturate in their bodies. The four workers were suspended without pay after the accident, a railroad spokeswoman said.