This column originally appeared in On The Way, a weekly newsletter with everything you need to know about transportation options in the New York metropolitan area. Sign up to receive the full version in your inbox every Thursday.
Last week's subway accident on the Upper West Side disrupted commutes for thousands of New Yorkers – and prompted federal regulators to launch an aggressive safety investigation that became even more urgent after the derailment of an F train in Coney Island on Wednesday.
Unlike many collisions and derailments in the subway's 120-year history, last Thursday's disaster didn't happen in a flash. Rather, the slow-moving crash was the culmination of dozens of decisions over a period of nearly an hour.
Internal MTA records obtained by Gothamist, National Transportation Safety Board reports, and interviews with transit employees provide a detailed timeline of events leading up to the Jan. 4 incident.
2:10 p.m
A 10-car No. 1 train screeches to a halt near the 79th Street station. The train operator alerts the subway's train control center that “unruly people” have broken into an unused conductor's stand and activated the emergency brakes.
2:15 p.m
The train driver and conductor go onto the tracks and reset the brake valve on the subway car, but the train still doesn't move. They tell the dispatcher that they suspect a homeless person hit the brakes and ask for additional help.
2:35 p.m
An on-site inspector alerts dispatchers that several emergency brakes have been activated on the train. Transport workers attempt to reset all tripped brake valves, which takes at least eight minutes. The brakes on the third car from the front of the train cannot be reset.
The traffic controllers decide to completely shut down the first five cars of the train. This means that a supervisor has to drive the train blind from the sixth car onwards. An operator in the front of the car acts as the supervisor's eyes and ears and instructs him via radio. The train pulls into 79th Street station to disembark passengers.
2:47 p.m
The crew continues north, planning to park the train under 103rd Street on a track not used for passenger service before eventually continuing on to the 240th Street subway station in the Bronx.
2:59 p.m
Just north of 96th Street, the supervisor – driving blind and relying on the driver – begins crossing over to the unused stretch.
A line 1 train with around 200 passengers passes over the same crossing and changes from the express track to the local train track. The disabled train passes three signals designed to stop trains when they do not have clearance. The two trains collide at slow speed.
The disabled train is pushed into the tunnel wall and its front car is lifted up. The train with passengers is also thrown off the tracks.
“I told you to stop and stay,” says the conductor at the head of the disabled train.
At least 24 people are injured.
5:15 p.m
Hundreds of drivers are escorted out of the subway tunnel. The scene is flooded with FDNY and MTA crews.
The consequences
The next day, investigators from the National Transportation Review Board are on site. NSTB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy makes comments that raise eyebrows among transportation insiders. Her team's investigation will not be limited to the Jan. 4 derailment. “This is the second accident on New York City Transit property in 37 days,” she said, referring to a subway track worker who died near the 34th Street subway station on Nov. 29. Herald Square was swept away by a train and killed.
“We will want to look at the entire system, including how it is managed and monitored,” announces Homendy.
Full service on Line 1 will not be restored until late Saturday evening.
The following Wednesday, an F train derailed in Coney Island, jumping the tracks and landing just feet from the edge of the line's elevated structure.
“Derailments actually happen. This shouldn’t happen, but it does happen from time to time,” NYC Transit President Richard Davey said after the F train derailment. “Customers should feel safe when traveling on the subway.”
Curious commuter
Ask:
Why are trains in other major cities more reliable and more frequent than here? Like in London, Paris, Barcelona. It seems like every other place I visit I don't have to wait more than 3-5 minutes for a train, but here the wait can sometimes be 12-25 minutes.
– Maureen from Manhattan
Answer:
MTA officials often point out that none of the cities you mentioned have 24-hour subway service. New York City's 24-hour system makes it difficult to perform maintenance on the tracks.
There is another key difference between our subway and the ones you listed: The vast majority of trains in the New York system consist of two crew members: an operator who drives the train and a conductor who opens and closes the doors . London, Paris and Barcelona all staff their subways with just one crew member. And New York's two-person train service policy effectively doubles the cost of running the subway more frequently.
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