Officials say 103 people were hurt when the train from Far Rockaway struck the bumping block at the terminal`s track 6 around 8:30 a.m. The train went up and over the block; the impact knocked the wheels of the first car and one other axle off the rails, MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast said at the scene.
"Obviously the train is supposed to stop short of the bumping block," Prendergast, who days ago announced his intent to retire in the upcoming weeks, said. "It did not do that."
The train was coming in at a fairly low rate of speed - somewhere around 15 mph, perhaps - at the time of the crash. All of the victims are expected to be OK. Gov. Cuomo said it appears the worst injury is a possible broken leg. The condition of the train engineer wasn`t immediately clear, and it wasn`t known when authorities expected to be able to question the person.
The NTSB tweeted investigators were en route to the scene, and the Federal Railroad Administration confirmed as well that federal investigators were en route.
Pictures on social media showed the train tipped slightly at an angle. The platform also appeared to be smoky as emergency personnel flooded the scene.
The LIRR tweeted only that customers should expect delays in and out of the transit hub "due to an incident" at the terminal. Aerial NYPD photos showed traffic at a virtual standstill outside the terminal amid a massive emergency presence; buses that normally use the area were detoured.
Prendergast said the MTA anticipated normal service for the afternoon rush, using the five other tracks available at Atlantic Terminal.
Passengers described the train pulling into the station, followed by a crash and a loud boom, after which the train`s doors opened.
"I don`t know, all I remember is being on the floor," one visibly shaken woman who had been on the train told NBC 4 New York between tears.
Several people complained of neck and back injuries. Some people were carried away on stretchers; others were sitting outside the train holding ice packs to their heads.
Despite the clear damage, many people were able to walk out.
Danielle Kraese was sitting on a train, waiting for it to leave, when the LIRR train came barreling into the station. She tweeted it was a "silent ride after that."
"I had to change at Jamaica, but no one came around to clip my ticket," Kraese tweeted. "It felt very `Ride at your own risk.`"
"This is a relatively minor accident," Cuomo said. "Luckily ... all things considered, this was a relatively minor accident."
The derailment comes about four months after an NJ Transit train crashed into the Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey, killing a woman on the platform and injuring about 100 other people.
A preliminary federal report on the Hoboken crash said the five-car train accelerated from 8 to 21 mph — more than twice the speed limit — as it approached the end of the track Sept. 29, before the emergency brake was engaged in the final second. Engineer Thomas Gallagher, who later was found to be suffering from sleep apnea, told investigators he had no memory of the train speeding up. That investigation is ongoing.
