A subway collision between two trains caused them to derail on Thursday, December 5, in Manhattan. The accident occurred around 3 p.m., near the 96th Street subway station on the Upper West Side.
At the time of the accident, one of the trains was carrying 300 passengers while the other was an out-of-service MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority train) with four workers on board.
More than 20 people suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the accident, according to officials. Speaking about the derailment, NYC Transit President Richard Davey said:
“The trains, literally, at slow speed, crashed into each other just north of the station.”
He said two trains should not have collided with each other and they would investigate the accident. Davey noted that they learned of the vandalism related to the out-of-service train:
“A number of emergency wires had been pulled earlier by someone. They were able to reset all of them except one, and that was the reason this train was still stuck at the station.”
While workers were adjusting the rest of the train's ropes, the train began moving at a red stop signal. The passenger train was moving towards the fast track to pass next to the other train.
While switching from the fast track, the passenger train collided with the out-of-service train as it suddenly began moving, causing them both to derail.
Richard Davey expressed relief that the derailment did not cause any serious injuries and that officials were able to evacuate everyone safely.
Passengers describe the accident after derailment on the Manhattan subway
According to the NYPD, when the two trains collided near the 96th Street subway station, a good Samaritan alerted two K-9 transit officers who were assigned to the station at the time. Michael Kemper, Chief of the NYPD Transportation Division, said:
“They rendered assistance, again requested EMS to respond to the scene, and then those officers, along with additional responding officers, helped people get off the trains and onto the platforms to get to safety.”
In the event of a derailment like this one, working on the tracks and evacuating passengers is “incredibly risky,” said Michael Myers, assistant chief of the New York City Fire Department.
That poses a risk to both emergency responders and people moving between lanes, he said. Myers and his team requested that the power be cut off when they arrived at the scene so they could begin the evacuation.
One passenger, who was on a separate train stuck behind the crash site for an hour due to a derailment, described the chaotic situation that unfolded after the collision:
“There were people getting off the train and running down the tracks.”
When the passengers exited the train, they were shocked by the site of the derailment, as one of them recounted:
“All the floors were broken. The seats were really bad. They didn't look like seats anymore. The columns were all bent.
Another said:
“I hit my head on the window. People were getting hurt, basically.”
One passenger, describing how the train was shaking during the collision, said:
“The train started shaking, shaking, shaking, shaking, very hard. Everyone was scared and screaming. There were a lot of kids. Everyone was trying to call 911.
Another passenger said the crash sounded like a “loud bang:”
“Everyone on the train was swaying back and forth like crazy, and there was a loud explosion. Suddenly, the train stopped, and smoke was billowing into the car. It was crazy. It was very unnerving.”
One passenger, Gregory King, said:
“I thought the concrete on top of the train was going to fall. I thought the subway was going to fall on us.”
Transportation officials said full subway service may not resume until Friday. They noted that a lot of work needs to be done to restore service.
