LIRR says work train derailment won't affect morning commute
MTA workers at 158th Street near Archer Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, Sunday afternoon, after two cars of a work train came off of the tracks around 9 a.m. Credit: Todd Maisel
A Sunday morning derailment of a Long Island Rail Road train near Jamaica is not expected to have any impact on the Monday morning rush hour, the LIRR said.
Two cars of a work train came off the tracks just east of Jamaica around 9 a.m., according to LIRR officials, who said there were no injuries in the incident.
An LIRR “wreck crew” was on the scene of the derailment Sunday afternoon, assessing the damage and beginning the repair work, a spokeswoman said.
Shortly before 6 p.m., the railroad said the two cars had been put back on the rails, and that repairs were expected to be completed before the Monday morning commute. The LIRR will operate on a regular weekday schedule on Monday, Columbus Day.
The railroad had advised customers to expect delays of 5-10 minutes through Jamaica because of the derailment earlier Sunday. Some Sunday trains on the Hempstead and Long Beach branches reported delays of up to 11 minutes because of it and some eastbound Hempstead trains bypassed Hollis and Queens Village.
The derailment was, at least, the fifth this year for the LIRR, according to Federal Railroad Administration statistics, which were last updated in July.
Two work engines derailed at a side track in Farmingdale on July 14. Two LIRR trains derailed near Speonk on May 25 when one sideswiped the other. In February, a train derailed after striking a car that drove through downed crossing gates in Westbury, killing the car's three occupants. And, on Jan. 3, a non-passenger train derailed in a yard at Jamaica.
The LIRR reported eight derailments in 2018.
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.
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