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1991 Union Square derailment

1991 Union Square derailment
The damaged R62 car at the site of the accident
The damaged R62 car at the site of the accident
Date August 28, 1991
Time 12:12 a.m.
Location North of 14th Street–Union Square
Coordinates 40°44′10″N 73°59′22″W / 40.73602°N 73.98952°W / 40.73602; -73.98952Coordinates: 40°44′10″N 73°59′22″W / 40.73602°N 73.98952°W / 40.73602; -73.98952
Country United States
Rail line IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Operator New York City Transit Authority
Type of incident Derailment
Cause Intoxication, driver error, overspeeding
Statistics
Trains 1
Passengers 216
Deaths 5
Injuries 161 (16 seriously)

Shortly after midnight on August 28, 1991, a New York City Subway train on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line derailed as it was about to enter 14th Street–Union Square. Five people were killed. It was the worst accident on the subway system since the 1928 Times Square derailment. The motorman was found at fault for intoxication and excessive speed, and served time in prison for manslaughter.

During the night of August 27–28, 1991, there was construction on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line that required southbound express trains to switch to the local track. This required the trains to slow down to 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) before entering a "pocket track" between the southbound local and express tracks, so that they would not delay local and express trains that were not going through the switch. At about 12:12 a.m. on August 28, 1991, a ten-car 4 Lexington Avenue Express train, heading southbound with approximately 216 passengers, derailed at the pocket track as it was about to enter 14th Street–Union Square. The train was traveling at as much as 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), too fast for the line's train stops to stop it in time.

Five people died, all almost immediately. Several support columns were destroyed, causing the street above to immediately subside by 0.5 inches (1.3 cm). It was the deadliest subway accident to happen in New York City since the Times Square disaster of 1928.

The first car, #1440, which struck a steel pillar, was cut in half and had its roof sheared off, but its motorman's cab was not damaged. The second, #1439, was folded in half by the barrier between the express and local tracks. Car #1437 was split in half and folded around a support beam, and cars #1436 and #1435 were also seriously damaged. The cars lay tangled between the support beams. The train was damaged so badly that one emergency responder said that he "couldn't even tell where one car ended and another began at some points".


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