MTA Suspends 2 Workers After Subway Derailment

HARLEM, NY — The MTA suspended two employees who were responsible for construction work that left unsecured materials on a track where a train derailed Tuesday, injuring 34 passengers, an MTA spokesman told Patch.

The two maintenance supervisors were suspended without pay Wednesday, MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said. They oversaw a track replacement on the A line near 125th Street on Monday, a day before a southbound train derailed around 9:40 a.m. and went crashing into the tunnel walls. The suspensions are pending a formal review and investigation into the derailment, Ortiz told Patch.

The MTA did not disclose the names of the suspended employees.

MTA officials have blamed the derailment on unsecured construction material being left in the middle of the train tracks near 125th Street. It's common practice for workers to store equipment in between railroad tracks but equipment must be properly secured to avoid an accident, MTA officials said.

That "does not appear to have happened in this case," new MTA Chairman Joe Lhota and Interim Executive Director Ronnie Hakim said in a statement late Tuesday night.

"The cause appears to be human error, not a track defect," the statement said.

Photo by @nrik_nyc, Twitter, used with permission