brickell
Dec 20, 2006, 9:00 PM
This doesn't look serious, but I'm worried what it'll mean to services in the next few weeks and months. How often does this happen nationwide?
The sad part is that there were only 50 people on board.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16283450.htm
Metrorail train derails near Dadeland; no major injuries
BY LARRY LEBOWITZ AND ELAINE DE VALLE
llebowitz@MiamiHerald.com
A northbound Metrorail train carrying at least 50 passengers derailed at lunchtime today as it departed the Dadeland South station.
Miami-Dade Transit and the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department said no major injuries were reported.
Nine people who walked off the train later asked to be examined by paramedics and seven of them were eventually transported to local hospitals for examination, said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue department spokeswoman Elizabeth Calzadilla-Fiallo.
The six-car northbound train was leaving the station at 11:51 a.m. when an antenna that is mounted to the front of each vehicle fell off of the fifth car in a switching area between the Dadeland North and South stations.
The antenna dislodged a two-axle set of wheels, springing them from the track. The derailed car was dragged about 300 yards before the power was automatically cut off.
The train operator told his supervisors the train was moving about 40 mph when the accident occurred, said Richard Snedden, assistant transit director.
The vehicle that sparked the accident was in the shop for repairs and routine maintenance as recently as Dec. 4. Transit officials are looking at maintenance records to determine what role the repair work might have played in the derailment.
''This is an isolated incident,'' Transit Director Roosevelt Bradley said. ``The track is fine. The trains are fine. We're working hard to restore full service right now.''
The derailed car showered fiberglass debris that normally covers the electrified third rail down on cars in a transit parking area located along U.S. 1 near the guideway, Snedden said.
The accident impacted midday service and might make for a longer evening commute.
Single-track service resumed at 2 p.m. between Dadeland South and Douglas Road stations. Trains will be running every 10 minutes southbound and 20 minutes northbound during this reduced service time, while crews work to separate the derailed car and the one behind it from the rest of the train and move them to a side track in the switching area.
Bradley said the agency is hoping to have the tracks cleared and resume full double-track service by the 5 p.m. afternoon rush.
This marks the first major mainline derailment since the system opened for passengers 22 years ago. Several derailments have occurred in switching yards, side tracks and maintenance areas; one occurred on the mainline before it officially opened for passenger service in May 1984.
Approximately 60,000 passengers board Metrorail on the average weekday, but more than 75 percent of the ridership is generated between Dadeland South and the downtown Civic Center station -- the heart of the area affected by today's accident.
The sad part is that there were only 50 people on board.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16283450.htm
Metrorail train derails near Dadeland; no major injuries
BY LARRY LEBOWITZ AND ELAINE DE VALLE
llebowitz@MiamiHerald.com
A northbound Metrorail train carrying at least 50 passengers derailed at lunchtime today as it departed the Dadeland South station.
Miami-Dade Transit and the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department said no major injuries were reported.
Nine people who walked off the train later asked to be examined by paramedics and seven of them were eventually transported to local hospitals for examination, said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue department spokeswoman Elizabeth Calzadilla-Fiallo.
The six-car northbound train was leaving the station at 11:51 a.m. when an antenna that is mounted to the front of each vehicle fell off of the fifth car in a switching area between the Dadeland North and South stations.
The antenna dislodged a two-axle set of wheels, springing them from the track. The derailed car was dragged about 300 yards before the power was automatically cut off.
The train operator told his supervisors the train was moving about 40 mph when the accident occurred, said Richard Snedden, assistant transit director.
The vehicle that sparked the accident was in the shop for repairs and routine maintenance as recently as Dec. 4. Transit officials are looking at maintenance records to determine what role the repair work might have played in the derailment.
''This is an isolated incident,'' Transit Director Roosevelt Bradley said. ``The track is fine. The trains are fine. We're working hard to restore full service right now.''
The derailed car showered fiberglass debris that normally covers the electrified third rail down on cars in a transit parking area located along U.S. 1 near the guideway, Snedden said.
The accident impacted midday service and might make for a longer evening commute.
Single-track service resumed at 2 p.m. between Dadeland South and Douglas Road stations. Trains will be running every 10 minutes southbound and 20 minutes northbound during this reduced service time, while crews work to separate the derailed car and the one behind it from the rest of the train and move them to a side track in the switching area.
Bradley said the agency is hoping to have the tracks cleared and resume full double-track service by the 5 p.m. afternoon rush.
This marks the first major mainline derailment since the system opened for passengers 22 years ago. Several derailments have occurred in switching yards, side tracks and maintenance areas; one occurred on the mainline before it officially opened for passenger service in May 1984.
Approximately 60,000 passengers board Metrorail on the average weekday, but more than 75 percent of the ridership is generated between Dadeland South and the downtown Civic Center station -- the heart of the area affected by today's accident.