Train Crash at 96th St. Station, Injures 26, Yields 2 Days of Hell on 1, 2, and 3 Lines Before Fix

A north bound 1 train collided with an empty passenger train that was on the tracks near the 96th St station snarling service on the 1, 2 and 3 lines and injuring at least 26 people.

By the late afternoon of Jan. 5, subway service was still a chaotic mess with passengers being forced onto shuttle buses to get from 42nd St. to 96th St. where they could climb back onto the subway cars on the 1 and 3 lines that terminate at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. The 2 train was running on the 5 line on the East Side.

The damaged trains were finally removed from the tracks and full service resumed on the 1, 2, and 3 lines by Sunday, Jan. 7. “MTA crews have worked diligently through two nights and days to secure the 96th Street tunnels infrastructure for safe use,” said Governor Kathy Hochul.

Transit officials were breathing a sigh of relief on the afternoon of the incident that none of the passengers who were evacuated were said to be seriously hurt.

“Thankfully, there were no serious injuries,” said NYC Transit president Richard Davey as he arrived on the scene hours after the Jan. 4 crash. “Obviously, two trains should not be bumping into one another. We are going to get to the bottom of that.”

Early indications were that human error rather than equipment failure was to blame, but the investigation is ongoing. Some

Both trains derailed and subway service on the 1, 2 and 3 were shut down on Jan. 4 while the 26 injured passengers were brought to Mount Sinai West. Smoke was wafting into the derailed cars containing passengers and some said they thought the initial bang was an explosion.

“I was crying I was really scared,” one passenger named Evelyn told NBC News 4. Firefighters had to pry open subway doors on the train packed with passengers, which was tilted on its side after it derailed.

Both trains were on northbound tracks. One had been taken out of service after someone pulled a number of emergency brake cords. Four MTA workers were resetting the emergency brakes when it began rolling forward at a slow speed just as another 1 train packed with about 300 passengers was leaving the station.

“The two trains were traveling northbound leaving 96 St Station at slow speeds at which time the trains bumped into each other and both derailed,” Davey said.

The crash triggered a massive response of police, firefighters and EMTs who began to evacuate about 300 passengers shortly after the crash around 3:04 p.m. on Jan. 4. Subway stations both uptown and downtown on the west side were thrown into chaos.

According to reports, the MTA workers were told to cut the brake lines to five of the cars in the empty subway train. As the northbound train attempted to roll onto the express track to get past the stuck train, the vacant train also slowly started moving. Both trains bumped into each other and both derailed.

”Whether it is extreme weather causing a disruption or extremely rare accidents like this one, the MTA always bounces back on the double,” said MTA chairman Janno Leiber.

The National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the cause of the dual derailment remains ongoing. “This is the second accident on New York City Transit’s property in 37 days,” Jennifer Homendy noted at a press conference on the evening of the crash. That’s not typical. Coming here, we are going to want to take a look at the entire system–including how it is managed and supervised.”