UPDATE: 10:30 a.m. Friday, January 5
The 1, 2, and 3 subway lines remain delayed and partially suspended Friday in Manhattan after at least 26 people suffered minor injuries Thursday afternoon, when a busy 1 train collided with a second out-of-service train near West 96th Street, according to the FDNY and MTA.
The collision happened around 3 p.m. on Thursday, an FDNY spokesperson told West Side Rag. During a briefing later that day, MTA officials explained that the incident took place after a 1 train stalled near West 79th Street due to a passenger pulling multiple emergency breaks.
That train then went out of service and made its way back uptown with a handful of MTA workers, when it collided with the northbound 1 train pulling out of the 96th Street station shortly after 3 p.m., the MTA said.
MTA officials stated that the 1 train carrying passengers had been given the green light to switch back to the local track, when the collision with the out-of-service train took place. The MTA has opened an investigation into the cause of the accident, a spokesperson for the agency told the New York Times.
Here’s what to know about your Friday commute.
1/2/3 service remains partially suspended at many stations in Manhattan through at least the morning rush hours. Our crews are making repairs to a train that derailed near 96 St.
When repairs are made, we will move this train to its storage facility, inspect the tracks, and make… pic.twitter.com/diyucNJxZC
— NYCT Subway (@NYCTSubway) January 5, 2024
Read more about the Upper West Side train collision and derailment below.
By Gus Saltonstall
At least 26 people suffered non-life-threatening injuries Thursday afternoon after a 1 subway train collided with an out of service train and derailed between West 96th Street and West 103rd Street, according to an FDNY spokesperson.
The train derailed around 3 p.m., a police spokesperson confirmed to West Side Rag.
“There was a huge jerk forward and a few jerks back,” Ava Stryker-Robbins, 17, who was on the northernmost subway car of the 1 train, told West Side Rag in a phone call. “They [MTA] kept saying ‘wait 10 minutes’ for a very long time, close to 40 minutes, and eventually we just started walking through car to car.”
Stryker-Robbins added that the MTA then pulled a second train up to the back of the derailed train, which passengers continued to walk through to make their way back to the 96th Street station.
Additionally, a different passenger, who had also been on the train, relayed the following account of the experience on Thursday afternoon to the Rag:
She felt a big jolt and the power went out, leaving only emergency lights on in her car. She did not hear announcements over the public address system, but firefighters soon came through the train updating passengers on what had happened and passengers in her car remained calm. Her car did not derail but as the passengers walked to the front of the train to evacuate she could see the leading cars were clearly off the tracks. She was stuck on the train for over an hour.
The New York Times reported that the derailment happened after the northbound 1 train carrying 300 passengers struck an out of service train at slow speed near West 96th Street, which was switching tracks.
Mayor Eric Adams posted Thursday on X about the Upper West Side derailment.
Our team is responding to the train derailment on the 1/2/3 line at 96th street. @FDNY and @NYPDNews emergency personnel are on the ground assisting efforts. Please avoid the 96th and Broadway area if you can. https://t.co/tOpe0rOWKw pic.twitter.com/CWZ3gsWM9v
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) January 4, 2024
The incident has caused widespread delays Thursday throughout the subway system.
There is no 1, 2, or 3 train service throughout most of Manhattan as of 4:30 p.m., according to the MTA. You can check out more service updates — HERE.
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Very similar to an incident from May 1970 at the Roosevelt Avenue station in Jackson Heights. See the Times coverage from 1970 at https://www.nytimes.com/1970/05/21/archives/queens-ind-crash-kills-2injures-71-car-with-rushhour-crowd-is-split.html.
Not the same at all.
Not similar at all
This is very scary. I’m glad there were no serious injuries but I’m sure it was still traumatic. This is why I never ride in the first or last car of a train.
I was on the #1 at Columbus Circle when this happened, and ended up exiting and getting on the M104, as did many other people. The bus was packed, especially since it happened just after schools let out. But everyone was pretty chill, despite how crowded it was, and the kids were very excited when we got to 96th Street and saw all the emergency lights.
So I just want to say that, despite this being a mess, and people being injured (not seriously, thankfully), what I saw was a lot of UWSiders handling it with our usual grumbling but good-natured resignation.
I’m glad that the injuries are non-life threatening and hope everyone recovers quickly. That being said, I think the MTA could have done a better job of providing more alternate subways/bus service. Two hours after this happened, I still waited 10 minutes for an uptown A (from 14th) – the C was 15-20 minutes wait. Got out at 59th to try my luck with a bus the rest of the way as I figured the C and B trains would be packed and a long wait. The bus time app said it was a 20-30 minute wait for M5, M7, or M104 at Broadway & 61st. While trying to decide what to do next, a bus marked “Subway Shuttle” drove past everyone waiting at the bus stop, completely empty. I ended up taking a cab…
I thought the MTA improved service with all the billions in funding it got.
It did. That train was running on time…before it derailed.
This is why I will not ride on a subway or other MTA vehicle, you don’t know who is driving, if they are on drugs or otherwise dangerous. When people blindly trust the government many will die like in this accident, it’s just not smart
No one died in this accident.
It’s a professional licensed MTA employee who’s driving and if you look they have ID cards. Their employees are drug tested. Mile for mile you’re much safer in an MTA bus or subway that any other form of transportation, and that includes walking.
I’ve lived in many parts of this city since 1977, with many years of multiple bus-trip days, and across many jobs have never seen a more consistently psychologically tough, resilient, professional group than MTA bus drivers. (OK, maybe one or two exceptions in all those years.) What they deal with, and the professionalism and people skills they bring – absolutely one of my favorite groups of New Yorkers. (Early in the pandemic when MTA said 43 drivers had died from suspected on-the-job Covid exposures – that was a heartbreaker, because you knew these were good people, truly essential workers, victims of our poor response. Then, early adaptation – remember the shower curtains? On the free, enter from-the-rear-door buses, which would carry like 4 people outside of rush, and fly down empty streets? Lordy. But now they have better air filtration, so that is something. Hange in there MTA, and here’s to drivers, train repair crews, and many benefits from congestion pricing.)
Sandy,
I too greatly appreciate MTA bus drivers!
But just to mention – buses will not benefit from CP.
CP is only for capital.
In fact, the MTA is continuing to reduce bus routes and frequency around NYC.
At the same time City DOT is messaging to use bicycles – not bus or subway
Good point. Better to walk around on the streets where you can trust non-governmental drivers and e-bike riders.
Yesterday at 4:10 pm I walked down the stairs at the 110th Street and Broadway Station to take the #1 downtown train. An employee stood in front of the turnstyles saying there was no 1 ,2 or 3 train service and we should take the A train. That is a healthy walk. There was a #104 downtown bus across the street. I got on in the middle and it was beyond packed. Then the driver announced he was going to make a left turn on 96th Street and go to Columbus Avenue. Then he would go South to 86th Street and then make a right back to Broadway. I decided to take a $20 cab ride. One other thing. I had just been at the Post Office at W. 112th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway. There was only 1 window open and it was very slow. At a certain point the clerk announced that he had run out of money orders and people who needed one should go to another post office. Folks, directing two subway trains to be at the same place at the same time and running out of money order blanks are not acts of God. This city has problems.
It is not a city problem. Post Office is not run by the city.
If you’d stayed on the bus, you would’ve had to walk a maximum of five blocks plus one avenue and change because of a detour resulting from an accident, and you had to buy a money order at CVS instead of the post office…truly, the 70s are back!!!
This all started with some idiot pulling the breaks…. INSANE. Would be interested to know if the culprit is being sought out by the police. Surely someone must have seen this happen – considering it occurred on multiple cars. one after another????
I wish someone who saw the culprit would post a comment here. I have to believe the NYPD has received tips, given that scores of people had to have seen him. Further, about 70% of the riders I see on the No. 1 train have their phones in their hands. Somebody must have a photo! It would be great to see a criminal held responsible for a change. The injuries are reportedly “minor”, but the creep disabling the subway train had no way to know that injury would be limited—he didn’t care.
Today, Friday, I was at 116th and Broadway. A subway shuttle bus came along, but was only taking people across 110th street, to the B or C train. When I asked why he was not taking people down Broadway, he told me to wait for the M4. When I then responded that the M4 goes across 110th street to the same B or C stop, he answered, “well, you know best.” Really helpful!
Why should he have been taking people down Broadway? His assignment was to shuttle people from Broadway to the B and C trains.
Boy do we depend on that #1 train….! (And #2, and #3). MTA put extra buses on, but nothing could absorb the numbers of people. Pretty rough travel down B’way today, even after the evening rush. Buses passing stops, packed. Crowded riders getting panicky. I had to go about 35 blocks, tried to embrace the sardine situation, practiced deep breathing, thought about those bygone days of the sad pre-1980s MTA – packed buses crawling between stops, people struggling to get on and off – and thanked all my stars I am still healthy enough to get off when I couldn’t take it any more, so happy to walk the last 12 blocks. (At about the same pace as the bus!) Not as tough as I used to be. Hope the train is fixed soon, soon.
Exactly. Accidents happen and you get incovenienced for a bit. My advice: stop feeling sorry for yourself and deal with it.
I admit that I am confused by the comment “Accidents happen”, since this is an instance of serious criminal conduct that disabled the brakes on multiple cars on a No. 1 train. The perpetrator did nothing by accident. His deliberate disabling was so effective that MTA staff couldn’t fix all the damage to the break mechanisms, and the train moved forward and hit another train. The accurate summary of what occurred would be: “Crimes happen.”
Two separate incidents. The first was a crime. The second was caused by human error – the fact that the train was able to move, albeit without passengers, indicates that they felt it was safe to proceed. They would not have allowed the train to proceed if it could not brake. Going through a red signal north of 96th Street was undoubtedly caused by human error – that was the accident. If they determine that the brakes failed when the train proceeded north of 96th Street, in that case I would agree that it was part of the criminal action. But we’ll find out.
Latest whispers seem to point towards “human error” as cause of incident.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/05/nyregion/nyc-subway-derailed.html
Northbound disabled #1 train received a red signal to stop, this to allow northbound train behind it to pass around via a parallel track (express track) and leap frog ahead of vandalized train.
For reasons not yet known apparently vandalized train blew through red signal and kept creeping forward and thus ultimately struck train in front that was crossing over.
Using clip from 1985 film “Runaway Train” gives a visual.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlCjDCQVt6c
In many ways express tracks on NYC subway system act as sidings. Trains can be “parked” on them for storage, but also via crossovers as points in system express trains can go onto local tracks and vice versa. This allows trains to bypass stalled ones ahead of them for instance.
NTSB is getting involved because this is the second major incident on MTA trains in just over 30 days, that’s not normal.
https://nypost.com/2024/01/05/metro/mta-officials-probe-if-malfunctioning-brakes-led-to-thursday-crash/
Saying that the vandalized train “blew through (the) red signal” is excessive. It implies that the opeator was speeding, which is contrary to the available information and level of damage and injury.
BB
Many thanks for your detailed info on this and other topics!
Clearer picture of events leading to crash are becoming known.
Apparently first five cars of “vandalized” train could not have brakes reset so power was cut/those cars taken out of service. Since these cars had no power automatic braking systems that would have been triggered once train went past red signal would have been inoperable.
Vandalized train was being operated by a motorman several cars from front (sixth). Since motorman cab that far back obviously cannot see track in front an MTA employee was relaying information via radio to motorman.
According to NTSB early investigations MTA employee acting as “lookout” in front car stated he radioed to motorman operating train that there was a red signal and directions from control command were to “stop and hold”.
For reasons still unknown motorman operating train did not apply brakes and the rest, as they say, is history.
https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/01/06/mta-crew-member-told-subway-train-to-stop-and-stay-before-derailment-report-exclusive/