Supervisors suspended amid NYC subway derailment probe
NEW YORK -- New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority says two supervisors have been suspended while officials investigate a Harlem derailment that injured more than 30 people.
MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz says the supervisors were responsible for oversight of work where the derailment occurred Tuesday. They're suspended without pay during the formal review process.
Service resumed Wednesday morning on the four affected subway lines. However, the MTA noted Wednesday morning that riders still should expect residual delays following repairs around the 125th Street station.
Transit officials said previously that it appears the derailment was caused by an improperly secured piece of replacement rail that was stored on the tracks.
CBS New York reports the derailment was caused by "human error, not a track defect," according to the MTA.
On Tuesday night, MTA officials released a statement that reads in part: "The preliminary investigation of Tuesday morning's train derailment indicates the cause was an improperly secured piece of replacement rail that was stored on the tracks," the statement said. "Storing equipment in between tracks is a common practice employed by railroads across the country to accelerate rail repairs. The key to this being an effective and safe practice is making sure that the extra equipment is properly bolted down, which does not appear to have happened in this case."
The accident sent A train riders tumbling to the floor and forced hundreds of passengers to evacuate through darkened tunnels.
One passenger described the derailment as "like riding on the back of a bull."
Long stretches of the A, B, C and D lines were completely shut down for most of the day on Tuesday.
