Some Queens Subway Service Suspended Overnight As Crews Work To Remove Derailed Train
NEW YORK(CBSNewYork/AP) -- Some subway service along Queens Boulevard was suspended again Saturday night as Metropolitan Transportation Authority crews work to remove the subway cars that derailed on Friday morning.
As many as 1,000 riders were rescued after an "F" train derailed in Woodside, Queens at around 10:30 a.m.
Nineteen people were injured when six of the train's eight cars went off the rails, CBS 2's Janelle Burrell reported.
CHECK: Traffic & Transit | MTA | PHOTOS: Queens Subway Derailment
Local service was restored to the E and F lines Saturday afternoon for the first time since the derailment, WCBS 880 reported.
However, the MTA had to suspend service on several lines along Queens Boulevard again Saturday night so that crews can remove the remaining cars and complete repairs. The suspension is expected to run until 9 a.m. Sunday.
The overnight suspension impacts the E, F, and R subway lines, the MTA said.
The following service changes will remain in effect through at least 9 a.m. Sunday:
- The E line will run in two sections.
1) World Trade Center to Queens Plaza
2) Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue to Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer
- The F line will run in two sections.
1) Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue to 21st Street-Queensbridge
2) Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue to Jamaica-179th Street
- F line service operates express between Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue and Forest Hills-71st Avenue.
- The R line will run between Bay Ridge-95th Street and 57th Street-7th Avenue in Manhattan.
Free shuttle bus service will be available for customers at the affected stops between Queens Plaza and Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue and between 21st Street-Queensbridge and Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue.
As crews work to make repairs and restore subway service, officials have already launched their investigation into what went wrong, CBS 2's Steve Langford reported.
"The rail did break under the train and so we're going to send it out for the metallurgists and other scientists to examine it," MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg said.
Transit officials said on Saturday that the section of rail that snapped and caused the train to derail was installed just weeks ago, WCBS 880 reported.
"The rail section in question, we've isolated and removed it, it was made in America sometime in November of 2013 and our records show it was installed there in March of this year. So it's a pretty new rail," Lisberg said.
The MTA added that other rails from that shipment will be inspected.
Lisberg said that speed did not appear to be a factor in the derailment.
"From every report that I've heard, they were absolutely professional. They did their jobs well," he said.
According to officials, the train left the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue station, passed 65th Street, and derailed on the approach to the Northern Boulevard station.
"The train just jerked so fast and then we saw smoke. It was literally like a scene out of a movie," passenger, Gabrielle Heslob said.
Firefighters rushed to assist riders off of the train, through the tunnel, and out an emergency street exit.
"I was going to work and in one second the train was coming really, really fast and it stopped and I feel like we're gonna crash," Magdelena Castro said.
Some passengers captured the underground rescue on cell phone video as firefighters helped stranded straphangers off of the derailed train.
"A couple people were having asthma attacks. A couple having panic attacks," Danielle Ashe said.
Some passengers were whisked away on stretchers and given oxygen.
The MTA said it hopes to have local and express subway service along Queens Boulevard fully restored by the Monday morning commute.
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