A Manhattan-bound F train derailed south of the 65th Street station in Woodside resulting in dozens of passengers having to climb through an emergency gate.
“Firefighters came and got us out of an emergency exit and we got out through that,” Danielle Ash, who was on her way to work in Manhattan, said. “They had us sitting there for a little bit but they got us out expeditiously and, as you can see, people are just trying to find an alternative way to get to the city.”
According to passengers, the train began picking up speed and suddenly came to a stop.
“It was really quick,” one passenger said. “We pulled off, picked up speed and then we stopped. No one thought anything of it until we had been sitting there for a while.”
The MTA reports the train derailed around 10:30 a.m. but passengers were not removed from the train until 11:30 a.m. No major injuries were reported.
“It was a little smoky down there and there were a couple of people having asthma attacks because they had been working themselves up,” Ash said. “The conductor was saying to stay calm and at first he said he didn’t know what happened but then told us it had been derailed. People were just concerned that it was hot, they wanted to get out and get where they need to be.”
Ash, who rides the F train on a regular basis, added that the train was moving rapidly but not at a pace that seems out of the ordinary.
Officials on the scene report four people suffered very minor injuries.
According to the MTA website, E trains are suspended in both directions between Queens Plaza and Jamaica Center, F trains are suspended between 179th Street and 21st Street-Queensbridge, there is no M train service between the 71st Avenue-Forest Hills station and Essex Street station and R trains are suspended between the 71st Avenue-Forest Hills station and the 57th Street-7th Avenue station.