Track repairs completed after Jamaica derailment; investigation continues
MTA workers last week at the scene of the LIRR derailment of eight cars in Jamaica, Queens. Credit: Ed Quinn
Work crews completed repairs to the tracks damaged in Thursday’s train derailment in time for the Long Island Rail Road to resume a normal rush hour Monday morning, LIRR officials said.
“LIRR crews — working around the clock since the derailment — have completed all repairs to our infrastructure,” the railroad said in a message to customers Sunday.
All eight cars of a Hempstead-bound LIRR train came off the tracks shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday about a half-mile east of Jamaica. There were 13 injuries, but none were serious, LIRR and FDNY officials said.
After clearing away the derailed cars by Friday afternoon, crews worked throughout the weekend to replace 1,600 feet of “running rail,” 900 feet of electrified third rail, and more than 400 concrete and wood rail ties, as well as a rail switch, LIRR spokesman David Steckel said.
There were no service issues Monday morning related to the derailment, Steckel said.
The cause of the derailment remains under investigation, including by the LIRR and the Federal Railroad Administration. An FRA spokesperson said the agency aims to complete its investigation within six months.
In an interview with WPIX 11 that aired Sunday, MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said “the area of focus” in the investigation is a complex junction of switches and signals where “there is a lot of movement between tracks.”
Lieber added that “it doesn’t look like” operator error was behind the derailment. “It was a straight shot. He was under the speed limit,” Lieber said. “That seems very improbable, but we have to let the professionals do their investigation.”
While still addressing the aftermath of one safety-related incident, LIRR crews had to respond to another one early Sunday morning, when a train fatally struck a 47-year-old man in Merrick.
The incident occurred shortly before 3:30 a.m., and resulted in the LIRR temporarily suspending service on the Babylon branch, and in delays that lingered throughout Sunday morning, LIRR officials said.
Steckel said there was no evidence of criminality, nor evidence that the man was on the tracks by accident.
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.
