Subway service is still suspended along a significant portion of the 1/2/3 lines after a major train derailment on Thursday, which left over 20 people injured.
Workers have been on the scene at the 96th Street station on the Upper West Side since Thursday afternoon, working to remedy the situation, with service expected to be restored by Friday evening.
“There is an army of people that have been down there overnight,” said MTA chief Janno Lieber on Friday morning. “They haven’t slept.”
Service along the 1 train is halted between Times Square and 137th St. – City College station, while the 3 train is not operating between Time Square and 135th St. in Harlem. Service on the 2 train is running on the East Side, along the 4/5 train line.
The news comes after a 1 train hit another train that had been out of service on Thursday at around 3 p.m., which sent the train careening off the tracks.
Nine out of 10 cars on the operational train have already been re-railed, and most of the debris has been cleared, though the out-of-service train remains put, Lieber added. MTA workers will need to clear that train as well, before service can be entirely restored.
“The train is currently sitting on ties, railroad ties, literally wooden blocks,” said MTA President Richard Davey.
The unoccupied train had stalled after someone pulled the emergency brakes, which forced officials to reroute local trains to the express tracks at W. 79th Street.
But a 1 train with about 300 passengers aboard hit that train when switching back to the local tracks after believing it had enough space to clear the stagnant train, Lieber said.
The crash injured 24 people, though none were considered major injuries, Davey said.
“Thankfully there were no serious injuries. Obviously, two trains should not be bumping into one another. We’re gonna get to the bottom of that,” Davey. “Thankfully this was low speed.”
An investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
Check MTA.info for further real-time information about subway service.
