Light-rail service returns to normal after derailment

Sound Transit restarted normal light-rail service this morning, after clearing a derailed train that caused delays Monday night.

The incident is under investigation, and findings will be made public when the inquiry is complete, officials said.

There were no injuries aboard the two-car train, which became stuck on an elevated trackway just outside the maintenance base in Sodo. The train was on its way out to serve afternoon commuters just after 3 p.m.

The train stopped at an awkward angle, breaking a short stretch of steel safety fencing and concrete slabs. Side panels of the train were scraped.

Crews disconnected one car after the mishap, then moved the stuck car before midnight Monday, said transit spokesman Bruce Gray. Workers positioned four jacks to lift the stuck car about six inches, and then a hydraulic lift and steel bars were placed underneath to shift the 50-ton car back onto the rails. There was no track or switch damage found, Gray said.

Monday afternoon, passengers were often subject to long waits without accurate information.

Sound Transit put out an advisory at 3:46 p.m. via e-mail and text messaging, to say trains were running 20 minutes apart, because of "train interference." South- and northbound trains would share the northbound track at Sodo, Beacon Hill and Mount Baker stations, the message said, but at Sodo Station, the trains actually stopped on their normal position. "Regular service will resume shortly," said a canned message over the public-address system at Sodo Station.

In reality, the timing varied. Often, two southbound trains would be followed by two northbound trains. Some trains leaving downtown carried 200 or more passengers — with more people standing than during normal service, every 7 ½ minutes.

Jagtar Saroya said he arrived at Pioneer Square Station at 4:15 p.m. and boarded a train that stopped for a long time at Stadium Station, finally passing the derailment site at 5:20 p.m. en route to Tukwila. Still, the mood aboard the train was peaceful, as passengers gawked out the fogged-up window at the derailed train and yellow-jacketed workers.

At both Mount Baker and Sodo stations, several riders were baffled by the delays, and transit staffers were not on hand in the first couple of hours to help.

"We could have done a better job getting people out to the stations, to let people know what was happening," said Gray. Sound Transit will review its passenger notification, he said. "People will be patient, as long as they have better information."

Sound Transit has notified the state Department of Transportation, the Federal Transit Administration, and the National Transportation Safety Board, who will get the report about 30 days from now, he said.

This was the first derailment on the Link light-rail line, which opened in mid-July. . The $2.3 billion route from Westlake Center to Tukwila serves just over 16,000 riders per day, and will extend to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Dec. 19.