NEW YORK — Thirteen people are reported to have been injured after a Long Island Rail Road train derailed today (Aug. 3) east of the LIRR’s Jamaica station in Queens.
The website amNY reports the train involved had left Grand Central Madison at 10:43 a.m. bound for Hempstead, and derailed about 11:15 a.m. FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh told a press conference that nine of the injuries were minor, two were moderate, and two were more serious, “but all of them are stable at this time and all of them are going to be okay.”
News reports said about 100 people were onboard LIRR train No. 722 when it derailed.
All eight cars of the train derailed at Hall Interlocking, in the vicinity of 175th street and 93rd Avenue, a little more than a mile east of the Jamaica station. MTA CEO Janno Lieber told the press conference that MTA equipment and personnel were on site to rerail the equipment but that there was track damage that will take some time to repair. This evening’s rush hour and Friday morning service are both likely to be affected, Lieber said.
The location of the derailment — between the busy Jamaica station and LIRR’s Hillside Maintenance Facility — meant railroad personnel were on the scene quickly from both locations, Lieber said.
WCBS-TV quotes an MTA official as saying the train was traveling at 54 mph — below the maximum allowable speed — at the time of the derailment.
Eastbound trains will at least temporarily bypass the stations at Hillside (an LIRR employee-only stop), Hollis, and Queens Village because of the derailment. Temporary eastbound platforms, which were put put in place for a time at Woodside, have now been removed.
More information on service impacts will be available at the MTA website or on the MTA smartphone app.
— Updated at 6:45 p.m. with number of passengers on board train and additional details; updated at 6:50 p.m. with additional photos.
How does a train just out of Jamaica go that fast so soon?
I fail to understand the timing of every story at midnight CDT/ CDST even though no new stories are posted then. In this case it would mean the author knew about this derailment 12 hours before it happened. He should have notified the LIRR instead of writing the article. What purpose does this practice serve?
Another day and another derailment hitting our rail system and whether it is a freight train, Amtrak or our local transit systems in various cities be it commuter rail, trolley or subway the beat goes on. America and our rail networks WAKE UP!
this is a very serious crisis and one that is slowly eroding the confidence and trust of both passengers and customers using any of our trains or rail systems. The old and proven adage of railroads and trains being the safest form of travel and transportation in this country is slowly fading away. Only our nation’s highways and automobile traffic rank as Number 1 in accidents and fatalities. However our rail systems are slowly creeping up right behind the automoblie and truck with all these derailments and accidents. It is time to sit up and take action to prevent this flood and epedemic of derailments.
Joseph C. Markfelder
No kiddin’ Joseph. Before East Palestine, it didn’t matter if a hundred trains went on the ground every day. No one knew so no one cared. Since East Palestine any derailment in any part of the country is covered in the mass media.
If railroads don’t improve their safety record, the NIMBYs along the r/w will shut down hazmat traffic on the rails. Which will end up on the highways at much greater danger.
The MTA brought in a rescue train for the passengers to take them to Jamaica Station within 90 minutes of the derailment.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
The train derailed at the hall interlocking, which is the second largest area of switches and signals in the LIRR system.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün