Work Train Derails, Snarls F, G Lines
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A work train vacuuming debris off the elevated F-line subway tracks near Smith Street in Brooklyn derailed yesterday just at the end of the morning rush hour, disrupting service for thousands of commuters throughout the day and into the night. Service was also disrupted on the G line.
No one was injured in the accident and New York City Transit is investigating its cause, a spokesman, Charles Seaton, said.
The yellow, five-car train, which sucked up 15,000 tons of garbage last year, was traveling on the Manhattan bound elevated track just north of the Smith and 9th Street Station when two of its wheels came off the tracks. Subway service on the G line, which shares track with the F at that station, was completely suspended yesterday.
Transit officials set up shuttle service for riders stranded between Church Street and the Jay Street/Borough Hall station, diverting them onto the A and C trains there, while other customers used the N and D lines, creating tighter commutes for thousands. It took until late into the afternoon for crews, using a 100- ton crane, to lift the train onto the track and then tow it with the aid of a diesel powered train. Much to the relief of commuters heading to Brooklyn from Manhattan after work yesterday, Coney Island-bound F trains were not affected.
Crews worked into the night to replace the rails on the elevated track – the highest in the subway system – where the derailment occurred.
New York City Transit officials said Manhattan-bound F trains would run express from Fourth Avenue to Bergen Street at least until midnight last night, though Mr. Seaton could not say whether full service would be restored today.
The G line, meanwhile, was suspended south of the Hoyt Street.
The derailment was the first since a shuttle between Times Square and Grand Central Terminal went off the tracks March 1. It was a reminder of track problems last month when broken rails and delayed trains fueled concerns that deferred maintenance had begun to result in a general deterioration of service.
Also yesterday, a smoke condition at 138th Street and Grand Concourse in the Bronx rerouted no. 5 trains along the no. 2 line at the height of the evening rush hour.
