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.
