Update on This Morning’s F Train Derailment
c/o @katiehonan
Immediately following the news of this morning’s F train derailment in Queens, reports were vague about the extent of the injuries to the passengers. Now, though, DNAInfo is reporting that there were 19 people who sustained injuries, with four people taken to area hospitals with severe injuries.
The F train that derailed this morning was carrying over 1,000 passengers and, according to MTA chairman Tom Prendergrast, had 6 of 8 cars leave the tracks for reasons that remain unclear. Via DNAInfo, Prendergrast said, “Transit officials said they would restore local service to the Broadway line by the evening rush hour adding that crews planned to work through the weekend to restore full service by Monday.” In the meantime, passengers can use the J, Z, or 7 lines as backups while service on the Broadway line is disrupted.
Despite the inherent, well, scariness of the incident, passengers on the derailed train report that MTA employees and emergency workers responded with the utmost professionalism and courtesy, and “acted quickly to keep passengers calm, explaining to them what had happened and how they would leave the tunnel.” Which, good to know that should your train ever taking a flying, spark-filled, smoke-causing leap, you’ll be in good hands. Although train derailments are relatively rare (the last one was in December of 2012, and caused no major injuries), serious injuries and even fatalities have occurred, including 4 deaths from the derailment of a 4 train in Union Square in 1991. So if you’re looking to terrify yourself before your evening commute, check out this complete list of NYC subway accidents. And maybe think about biking to work? How, uh, dangerous can that be, right? Right?! Ugh.
Follow Kristin Iversen on twitter @kmiversen
