Local 100 President Samuelsen Responds to G Train Derailment

At 10:30 pm on Sept. 10, 2015 a ‘G’ Train Operator approaching Hoyt-Schermerhorn placed his brakes into emergency after he saw the bench wall protruding onto the running rail.  It was too late.  The train hit the collapsed bench wall and derailed, taking huge chunks of bench wall with it for more than 300 feet.  The preliminary engineer’s report cited several causes including water seepage and the failure of a number of stabilizer brackets that had been installed to address earlier structural issues.

Local 100 President John Samuelsen immediately released a statement underscoring the importance of the MTA Capital Plan in addressing state-of-good-repair issues, including structural deficiencies throughout the system. He affirmed that the derailment is a “grim warning” that “the City and Mayor de Blasio must heed.”

“This derailment is a glimpse of what the future holds for NYC's Transit System unless the City steps up to foot their fair share of the bill for the MTA capital plan,” he stated.  “The system won’t fix itself and the for the sake of New York’s working families, the City must address this unfunded liability." 

The MTA’s five-year $30 billion capital plan is $11.5 billion short.  The State has promised to come up with an additional $8 plus billion.  The MTA is asking the City for $3.2 billion over the next five years to insure full funding.  The City has pledged only half that amount. The capital plan includes billions for state-of-good-repair which would address important infrastructure issues, as well as 1,438 new buses, 948 new subway cars, 84 miles of new track, 20 major station rehabs and numerous new big ticket projects like the 2^nd Avenue subway.