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NYC subway cars derail; over 400 passengers evacuated safely

May 5, 2008

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NEW YORK - Some trains were detoured early Monday after two Manhattan subway cars jumped off their tracks the day before near Central Park in an accident that authorities said caused more than 400 passengers to evacuate the tunnel on a rescue train.

However, New York City Transit said service on the N and R lines returned to normal by 5:30 a.m. Monday after repairs were made to the tracks.

Authorities were still looking for the cause of the 4:23 p.m. Sunday accident that caused two minor injuries when one wheel on each of the two cars came off the tracks.

NYC Transit spokesman Charles Seaton said the train's operator and conductor were required to undergo blood alcohol testing, which is standard procedure following an accident.

Seaton said some R trains had to be rerouted because of the accident while there was no "N" train service between the Queensboro Plaza Station and the Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard Station in both directions.

The mishap occurred when cars on a southbound N train, heading from Astoria, Queens, to Brooklyn, jumped the tracks 100 feet north of the stop at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, Seaton said.

One person suffered from anxiety and another person reported a minor injury, but neither required medical treatment, Seaton said.

The train's 449 passengers were removed from the tunnel on a "rescue train," he said.

"Something was wrong with the hand brake," passenger Mike Garelik said. "When they restarted it, it looks like it took one of the cars off the rail."

The cars were removed from the track to a Brooklyn rail yard on Sunday evening and crews were making repairs.

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