At Least 24 Injured After 2 N.Y.C. Subway Trains Collide: 'Nobody Was Seriously Injured'

"The injuries that were sustained were consistent with a low-speed train derailment," said FDNY Chief Deputy Assistant Ian Swords.

At least 24 people were injured after two subway trains collided in New York City's Upper West Side on Thursday afternoon.

Around 3 p.m. near West 96th Street and Broadway, a train that was carrying about 300 people collided with a work train that was carrying four transit workers. The collision caused the work train to derail, per the Metropolitan Transportation Authority press conference livestream.

During the press conference, Chief Michael Kemper of the New York Police Department Transit said that a civilian reported the collision to two onsite officers who were in the “mezzanine area” of the 96th train station.

They discovered the two trains were side by side and halfway into the tunnel. The officers then called emergency medical services, the Fire Department of New York and additional NYPD officers, who then arrived to assist with the evacuation.

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Both were northbound 1 trains. Following the derailment, the 1 and 3 trains have been suspended, while the 2 trains have been rerouted, per the M.T.A. site.

Along with the impacted trains, an additional train behind the consumer train was evacuated, and an additional 300-400 passengers were removed, said President of New York City Transit Richard Davey.

As passengers evacuated they were checked for injuries, and those with severe injuries were taken to hospitals, said FDNY Chief Deputy Assistant Ian Swords.

“Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured. The injuries that were sustained were consistent with a low-speed train derailment, and all of those patients have been removed to area hospitals,” said Chief Swords.

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Authorities shared that the accident did not occur because of an equipment malfunction. “Obviously, two trains should not be bumping into one another. We’re going to get to the bottom of that,” said Davey during the news conference.

But he shared that the M.T.A. officials were aware that the work train was previously vandalized. “The number of emergency cords had been pulled earlier by someone and they were able to reset all of them except one and that was the reason why that train was still stuck in the station. It was being operated in the midsection,” said Davey.

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He continued to share that he “hopes” the service will be "back and running" for Friday rush hour, but he “cannot guarantee that.” He explained that crews will be working at the station throughout the night in an effort to resume service.

Ahead of the live press conference, New York City Emergency Management confirmed on X (formerly known as Twitter) that “Operations & investigations are actively ongoing at the subway derailment at 96th St & Bway."

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