MTA restores LIRR service following last week's derailment

Full service on MTA Long Island Rail Road was restored today following an LIRR train derailment that occurred Aug. 3 in Queens, New York, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials announced.

The eight-car train derailed east of Jamaica Station at 175th Street and 95th Avenue. Thirteen people were injured and about 1,600 feet of track was damaged. All eight cars derailed.

The train derailed at the hall interlocking, which is the second largest area of switches and signals in the LIRR system, ABC Channel 7 reported this morning.

LIRR crews worked around the clock to repair the track in time for this morning’s commute, said MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber.

The train was traveling 54 mph in a 60- to 80-mph zone at the time it derailed. Speed is not considered a factor in the derailment, which is the third on LIRR's system in less than three months, Channel 7 reported.