Harlem subway derailment leads to massive service disruptions in NYC

Update, 2 p.m.: Four hours after the derailment at the 125th St station in Harlem occurred, more details about the incident itself are coming to light. According to the New York Times, two of the train cars on a southbound A train derailed and hit a wall in a tunnel. As a result, 34 people suffered minor injuries, including smoke inhalation.

As to the cause of the derailment, that’s still unclear. MTA chairman Joe Lhota said that an emergency brake was pulled, but the agency is still investigating why that happened. But an MTA worker told the Times that the extent of the damage (“about 200 feet of track and multiple signals damaged and mounds of concrete shorn from the walls”) could leave the A train out of service for the remainder of the day.

As of this writing, neither Governor Andrew Cuomo (who, you’ll recall, controls the subway) nor Mayor Bill de Blasio has issued a statement on the derailment, other than a tweet from the Mayor’s office noting that De Blasio was briefed on the situation.

Update, 11:53 a.m.: MTA chairman Joe Lhota provided an update on the incident in Harlem. According to Lhota, there were minor injuries as a result of the derailment (the FDNY is saying 17, according to NY1), and though a cause for the incident has yet to be determined, it appears that the train went into emergency braking.

Update, 11:39 a.m.: According to the MTA, three stalled trains have been evacuated as a result of this morning’s derailment:

Update, 11:18 a.m.: There are now service disruptions on the A, B, C, D, E, F, and M trains as a result of this morning’s derailment. The MTA is updating is site with service changes regularly.

Looks like it’s going to be another bad day on the New York City subway: Major service disruptions have been reported on the A, B, C, and D lines after a subway train derailed near the 125th Street station in Harlem.

Multiple outlets, including Gothamist and NY1, have reported that two cars on the A line derailed just before 10 a.m., and as a result, service on those four lines has been severely impacted: As of 10:45 a.m., A, B, and C trains are not running in either direction, and D trains have been suspended between Bryant Park and Yankee Stadium.

The MTA has been tweeting about the incident from its @NYCTSubway account, and says that “no major injuries” were reported.

According to Gothamist, however, three people were injured in the derailment, and the train was evacuated after the incident occurred. They also spoke with a commuter who was on the train that derailed, who provided this account of the incident:

"It was really dark, tons of smoke and dust, and white chunky things. There was a lot of distortion on the floor. The metal was pushed in, and either the door was jammed... or it was totally pulled off, like, opened like a book."

Other straphangers who were on the train where the derailment occurred have tweeted similar stories:

Per reports, the MTA will still open the South Ferry 1 station today, though a scheduled presser and walk-through at the Lower Manhattan stop is now canceled.

We’ll continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

• At Least Three Injured As Door Rips Off 'A' Train In Possible Derailment [Gothamist]