Problems with MTA radios may have contributed to the slow-moving crash of two subway trains on the Upper West Side earlier this month, federal investigators wrote in a preliminary report on Thursday.
The Jan. 4 derailment, which injured at least 24 people and sparked days of delays, happened when a disabled 1 train without passengers on board rolled into another 1 train full of riders just north of West 96th Street.
The disabled train had been taken out of service after an “unruly passenger” pulled its emergency brakes, the National Transportation Safety Board wrote in its report. That forced a train supervisor to drive the train from the middle car, while another operator stood in the front car providing directions over the radio.
The operator in front “said he lost radio communications with the transit system supervisor near 96th Street Station,” according to the report. Shortly after, “the train passed by a signal requiring a stop at the end of the 96th Street Station platform, and the collision occurred.”
The NTSB said its investigation is ongoing. Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a press conference shortly after the crash that the watchdog agency would “look at the entire [subway] system, including how it is managed and supervised.”
She noted that a subway track worker had been dragged and killed by a train near the 34th Street-Herald Square station on Nov. 29.
NYC Transit President Richard Davey said during a news conference on Thursday that testing after the accident found no problem with the radios used by the crew. But he said he has no way to determine if they lost signal in the tunnel before the derailment — or even if the crews were using the same radio channel.
Davey added that the MTA was reviewing its safety protocols going forward.
“We’re going to look at not only the conduct of the individuals to see if there are improvements but also to see if there are processes, procedures — better radio procedures, for example — that we…
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