Federal Agency to Investigate NYC Subway System After Thursday's Crash

by Yehudit Garmaise

To determine what caused a northbound 1/2/3 train to collide with an out-of-service train that was moving, although it did not have a green light to proceed, federal transit safety investigators will review all New York City subway operations.

"No early indicators have yet emerged to explain the cause of the crash that caused two trains to derail near the 96th Street station in Manhattan on Thursday," said Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

After the low-speed crash caused at least 26 commuters to suffer minor injuries, 300 commuters had to be removed from the derailed train. 

Another 300 to 400 commuters had to be removed from the train that was traveling behind the ones that collided.

Although crashes and derailments are rare in NYC’s 119-year-old subway system, Thursday’s subway crash was the second serious accident on NYC transit in just 37 days.

On November 29, an MTA subway worker who was working as a safety flagger was killed after he was dragged under a train.

To determine whether the errors that caused Thursday’s crash were human or mechanical, the NTSB will “look at the entire system, including how it is managed and supervised,” Homendy said.