Restoration to Come Two Days After Collision Incident in Time for Sunday Morning Trips
Governor Kathy Hochul tonight announced the Metropolitan Transportation Authority New York City Transit will resume full subway service on the lines overnight Saturday into early Sunday, January 7, 2023. The full restoration of service will come two days after the collision incident, following the removal of two incident trains from the 96 Street subway tunnel, repairs to the tunnel’s tracks and the third rail, and a safety inspection of the tunnel area.
“MTA crews have worked diligently through two nights and days to secure the 96 Street tunnel’s infrastructure for safe use,” Governor Hochul said. “With full service being restored, hundreds of thousands of riders on the west side of Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn will again be able to ride the lines to get to work, school, and to see friends and loved ones.”
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said, “Whether it’s extreme weather causing a disruption or extremely rare accidents like this one, the MTA always bounces back on the double. I want to thank the amazing MTA workers for their efforts, and our customers for their understanding during the last two days.”
At approximately 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 4, two trains were traveling northbound leaving 96 Street Station at slow speeds at which time the trains bumped into each other and both derailed. There were no reported serious injuries.
Following the incident, crews made substantial progress overnight and into the weekend to rerail three cars that had left the tracks. The train that had been in service with passengers was removed Friday, and the vandalized non-passenger train that also derailed was removed early Saturday. Crews then made all necessary repairs to the tracks and infrastructure of the tunnel north of 96 Street to enable the restoration of full service on the lines. Power was restored to all tracks, and test trains were operated without issues, on the West Side section of the lines, by 10:00 p.m. Saturday night.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation into the cause of the derailment remains ongoing.
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