Updated 5:05 p.m.
An F train derailed in Woodside Friday morning, injuring 19 people and forcing hundreds to evacuate, officials said.
The accident happened about 10:25 a.m. on the Brooklyn-bound express track near 65th Street and Broadway, the MTA said.
As the subway passed just south of the local R/M station, the six center cars of the eight-car train went off the tracks, according to the transit agency.
Photo: MTA / Patrick Cashin
It took about two hours to evacuate about 1,000 passengers. Fifteen people suffered minor injuries and four were taken to the hospital with potentially serious injuries, officials said.
The derailment also caused damage to the tracks and car equipment as well as delays and service changes across several lines, according to the agency.
There will be a detailed investigation into the cause of the derailment, including an examination of the tracks, signals and maintenance records, MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Prendergast said at a briefing on the accident Friday afternoon.
Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit
“We run 8,000 trains a day and the system is very safe,” he said.
Riders should expect to continue to experience service changes as a result of the derailment. The MTA was able to restore local E and F service by the Friday evening rush hour, but express service remains suspended in both directions along the Queens Boulevard line until after the derailed train is removed from the tracks, according to the agency.
- The M and R trains will not run along the Queens Boulevard line.
- R trains will run between Whitehall St and 57 St-7 Av in Manhattan.
- M trains will run between Metropolitan Av in Queens and Chambers St in Manhattan.
- LIRR is cross-honoring valid MetroCards in both directions between Penn Station and Jamaica Station, including Kew Gardens, Forest Hills and Woodside, as well as stops between Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica.
- All service will be suspended along the Queens Boulevard line from 10 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday for the removal of the derailed train. Limited shuttle bus service will be provided but customers should use the 7 train as an alternate for some stops along the Queens Boulevard line or the MTA Long Island Rail Road.
- Weekend construction work on the M, 7 and J lines has been canceled.
The MTA said there is no timetable for restoration of express service on the Queens Boulevard line.
Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit
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