LIRR derailment probe: Track switch was out of place, MTA says

The Long Island Rail Road derailment that injured 13 people in Queens last week occurred because a track switch was out of place, and the train received a signal that it wasn't, according to the findings of a preliminary MTA investigation. 

All eight cars of the Hempstead-bound train came off the tracks when it “traveled over a switch intended for a straight move that was in fact misaligned for a diverging route,” the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the LIRR’s parent organization, said in a statement. 

Thirteen passengers were injured on the train, which departed from Grand Central Madison and derailed shortly after 11 a.m. on Aug. 3. None of the injuries were serious, authorities said. 

MTA officials said that just before the derailment, the track switch had undergone a routine inspection, but it “did not properly realign upon completion of the inspection.”

A “previously unknown vulnerability” resulted in the train receiving a signal that the switch was properly aligned, when it was not, the MTA said.

“This incident has exposed a unique and previously unknown localized vulnerability that has been rectified,” LIRR interim president Catherine Rinaldi said in a statement. “This incident has prompted us to enhance our switch inspection processes to improve the safety of the railroad going forward.”

After the derailment, LIRR crews rebuilt the switch to correct the issue, which was related to wiring, officials said. The railroad also conducted “thorough assessments” of all 1,045 switches in the LIRR system and determined that the problem was unique to the one switch, which was located just east of Jamaica station. 

The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen Local 56, whose members helped make the fixes to the switch and signal system, discovered the problem that led to the derailment, according to Michael Sullivan, general chairman of Local 56.  

The train, which was carrying 55 passengers, was traveling at 54 mph when it derailed — below the allowed speed limit. MTA officials have said speed did not play a role in the derailment, which remains under investigation by the Federal Railroad Administration.

Gerard Bringmann, chairman of the LIRR Commuter Council, a rider advocacy group, upon learning of the probe's early findings, said the switch malfunction "looks like a one-in-a-million shot."

"With all the switches in the Long Island Rail Road system and all the trains they run, eventually something quirky happens. But I'm confident the Long Island Rail Road did their due diligence after the derailment happened," Bringmann said. "I don't know how they could have prevented it."

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.