Train Derailment In Brighton Beach Leaves Commuters Frustrated
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A train derailment in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, disrupted subway service on two lines Friday.
The second set of wheels on the second car of a southbound Q train came off the rails on the tracks above Sheepshead Bay Road around 8:55 a.m. as the train was pulling out of the station, according to the MTA.
Derailed Q train still stalled on tracks at Sheepshead Bay station. #1010WINS pic.twitter.com/mNwZbwJA8S
— Sonia Rincón (@SoniaRincon) July 21, 2017
"Just a big bang and a loud screeching noise," said witness Michael Green. "People yelling, and within five minutes, fire trucks, ambulances, everybody was pulling up."
About 135 riders were on board, stuck between stations for about 30 minutes.
The MTA said no one was injured and customers were as cooperative as they could have asked for under the circumstances.
"Obviously, we are sorry that this occurred this morning," said Ronnie Hakim, the MTA's interim executive director. "There are many New York City Transit folks working here to both begin the investigation of what occurred as well as to deal with the restoration of service."
Air conditioning was running on the train cars while passengers were stuck, according to the MTA.
The cause of the derailment is under investigation.
A reach train was able to pull up directly behind them, and riders were walked through and evacuated onto the Brighton Beach station platform, Hakim said. From there, they were rerouted on buses.
Witness Roha Hider told CBS2's Ali Bauman she saw "like 30, 40 people coming outside the train station, and they were yelling, and they were crying."
From there, passengers were put on shuttle buses to finish out the rest of their commute, as were passengers on other southbound Q trains whose train rides ended at Kings Highway.
"This was just supposed to be like a one-hour train ride that is now approaching two hours," said subway rider Kari Cooke. "Wish us luck!"
Some riders were trying to get to Coney Island, but the last-minute shuttle provided by the MTA left them stuck, only going as far as Sheepshead Bay.
"The first shuttle was crowded," said rider Rivkah Cooke. "We got on the second shuttle, and they just let us off here now. Now we're not sure what's happening. We're trying to decide if we want to walk, if we want to an Uber. We just want to get to the beach."
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said the derailment "made clear that the MTA is in dire need of increased funding."
"The trains did start getting so much better, and now I feel that it's just going backwards again," said commuter Denise Nestman.
Another day, another derailment. Crews on #Qtrain tracks at Sheepshead Bay.
— Ali Bauman (@AliBaumanTV) July 21, 2017
Live at noon @CBSNewYork #cbsnewyork pic.twitter.com/tI2xxbjGML
As of Friday afternoon, service on the B and Q lines was running with delays. Check the MTA's website and Twitter for the latest service updates.
This is the second time in less than a month that a subway train has derailed.
On June 27, a southbound A train struck the wall of a tunnel, causing two subway cars to derail at West 128th Street in Harlem. The incident left nearly 40 people injured.