Metro service still snarls as MTA works to remove derailed train

Subway service remained disrupted Friday morning on three subway lines on Manhattan’s West Side, transit officials said, a day after two trains collided and derailed, injuring about 25 people.

Service was suspended on Lines 1 and 3 between Times Square and Central Harlem, and Train 2 operated on Line 5 in Manhattan. Officials said Friday they hoped service on the subway lines would be partially restored later in the day, noting that additional buses had been deployed to transport passengers along the West Side.

One derailed train car was still stuck in a subway tunnel near 96th Street as crews worked to get it back on track, said Janno Lieber, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The train’s other nine cars, which were carrying about 300 passengers at the time of the collision, have been moved, he said, but the remaining car is at a low height, making it difficult to reassemble it on the tracks. .

“Because there are only a few inches left in this tunnel, it’s an incredibly delicate process,” said Richard Davey, president of New York City Transit, the MTA division that operates the subway. “Our hope is that we will try to get some service back today.”

The second train, which was destroyed and disabled before the collision, also remained in the area, officials said Friday.

The derailments occurred when a northbound No. 1 train carrying 300 passengers collided with an out-of-service train carrying four transit workers around 3 p.m. Thursday, the MTA said.

The trouble started when vandals activated the brakes on the No. 1 train at 79th Street, officials said. That train was taken out of service and slowly entered the city. As it passed 96th Street, another train carrying 300 passengers switched back to a local track in front.

On Thursday, officials said the collision and derailments did not appear to be caused by an equipment malfunction.

Subway derailments involving passengers have been rare in recent years. The latest occurred on September 20, 2020, when an A train came off the tracks around 14th Street with 100 people on board, and three passengers suffered minor injuries.