Metro-North Aware Of Track Misalignment Before Rye Derailment: NTSB

RYE, NY — A preliminary report examining the cause of the May 18 Metro-North derailment near the Rye station found the railroad was aware of a misalignment in the tracks. Around 4:56 p.m. May 18, New Haven Line commuter train 1373 derailed at milepost 24.55. The train had originated in Stamford and was headed to Grand Central Terminal.

Of the 185 passengers on the train, 14 reported minor injuries. Two crew members — the train engineer and conductor — also reported minor injuries.

The National Transportation Safety Board, in the executive summary of the preliminary report, said that Track 3, on which the derailment happened, normally carried 85 trains per day. However, due to Track 1 being out of service, 104 trains per day were operating on Track 3.

A temporary speed restriction of 10 mph was in effect the day of the accident.

A possible track condition was reported at 1:20 p.m.

Two track inspectors proceeded to the location and found the track was misaligned. They made repairs and gave the track back to the rail traffic controller for normal operating speed at 2:02 p.m.

The engineer of another train reported a “real nasty kink in the rail” at the location around 2:54 p.m.

At 3:23 p.m., another engineer reported “that kink is pretty bad,” and that he could feel it as he went over it.

The speed was lowered to 15 mph, and was then lower to 10 mph at 3:51 p.m. when a track supervisor had arrived at the location.

The NTSB said the track supervisor thought the track was misalighed about 2 inches and watched four train pass over the area. He said the deviation did not change.

At 4:30 p.m., the track supervisor said a train passed through the area faster than the 10-mph speed restriction and reported the incident.

He said the alignment had not worsened and left the area

About a half hour later, train 1373 derailed.

The NTSB did not give a probable cause and said the report would be supplemented or corrected during the course of the investigation.

Photo credit: NTSB.