Four people were killed and 63 were injured after a Metro North Hudson Line train derailed in the Bronx, New York City at 7:20am December 1, 2013.
Operating in a locomotive push mode, the train was heading from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central Terminal when the seven cars and the locomotive derailed rounding a curve near the Spuyten Duyvil station. The trains regular 70 MPH speed is normally reduced to 30 MPH for the curve. The event recorder reported that the speed when the train entered the curve as 82 MPH. According to reports, the Metro North veteran engineer had dozed off and awoke too late to apply the brakes in time.
At least two of the four people that were killed were thrown from the train. There were approximately 150 passengers.
On the left is the engineer's cab car just feet from the Harlem River. The grey rectangles beyond it are the other cars of the derailed train. Beyond the cars, unseen going left and right along the Hudson River, is Amtrak's line into Manhattan Penn Station. On the right are the platforms of the Spuyten Dyuvil station. The unusual name comes from the wild tidal currents caused by the confluence of the Harlem and Hudson Rivers the Dutch settlers found at this location. The rough translation of the name,"Spouting Devil" sadly still speaks of the treachery in this area.
