Derailment at Farragut North

Photo courtesy of
‘Departure’
courtesy of ‘Rolenz’

UPDATE 11:58: Fire Chief Dennis Rubin: Incident is now under control 6 cars, 3 married repairs, passengers moved into 4 operational cars, decoupled from 2 derailed cars (that took a while) and moved back into the station. Other stuck trains have been sent on their way to destination. Evacuated passengers now on their way to work. Single tracking will be happening around FNorth. 345 passengers evacuated from train, only 3 injuries, very minor. “This incident is under control; it will not get worse.”

From WMATA.com (reposted in case their site gets crushed again):

A six-car Red Line train headed in the direction of Shady Grove Metrorail station has reportedly derailed near the Farragut North Metrorail station. There are no reported injuries.

Metro officials and local first responders are at the scene to investigate and to safely get customers off of the train and to the station.

The preliminary report is that the front wheels of lead car is the one that came off the tracks. The incident took place at 10:13 a.m.

Various Twitter-ers report major fire/EMT presence at Farragut North, including fire response turning people away from the stations.

UPDATE 11:03: Lisa Farbstein is on NBC4, explaining that power is being turned off to the tracks so that passengers can exit the train safely.

UPDATE 11:09: Connecticut, K, and L are closed in the immediate area. Just don’t even bother unless you’re on foot.

UPDATE 11:15: Metro board chair Peter Benjamin: Single-tracking through Farragut North. Believes the train was just leaving the station. Some part of the train is still in the station, so some passengers are able to exit directly from the car to the station. Lisa Farbstein: Train is in a “pocket track” which is a side track that allows Metro to maneuver trains, says she doesn’t have enough detail to say that any part of the train is still at the station

UPDATE 11:22: Fire Chief Dennis Rubin: Several trains on the tracks, blocked by the derailed train. Those passengers will be escorted off, and in at least one case a train will be reversed. Responders will not go onto the tracks while they’re under power.

UPDATE 11:31: Fire Chief Dennis Rubin: Train operator reporting no injuries, responders will confirm as they’re escorting passengers off the train. Don’t want responders or passengers on the tracks while they’re still powered.

UPDATE 11:35: Passenger on cell phone (Dana Mozie) with WJLA saying passengers are being allowed off the train. Reporting that a few passengers need medical attention, not for traumatic injuries but for conditions related to shock. As of 11:40 reporting that the passengers have all been cleared from the derailed train.

UPDATE 11:47: Photo from inside Farragut North, hat tip to Why I Hate DC’s updates.

UPDATE 11:55: Shuttle buses running between Dupont and Gallery Place.

UPDATE 11:58: Fire Chief Dennis Rubin: Incident is now under control 6 cars, 3 married repairs, passengers moved into 4 operational cars, decoupled from 2 derailed cars (that took a while) and moved back into the station. Other stuck trains have been sent on their way to destination. Evacuated passengers now on their way to work. Single tracking will be happening around FNorth. 345 passengers evacuated from train, only 3 injuries, very minor. “This incident is under control; it will not get worse.”


Tiffany Baxendell Bridge is an Internet enthusiast and an incurable smartass. When not heckling the neighborhood political scene on Twitter, she can be found goofing off with her ukulele, Bollywood dancing, or obsessing about cult TV. She is That Woman With the Baby In the Bar.

Tiffany lives in Brookland with her husband Tom, son Charlie, and two high-maintenance cats. Read why Tiffany loves DC.

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5 thoughts on “Derailment at Farragut North

  1. I was on the green line yesterday, and one interesting thing was that they were not letting any passengers on the front car “for safety reasons”. I wonder if they knew that there was an increased risk of something like this. Between that and the fact that there was a disabled train sitting at the Columbia Heights station forcing the southbound train to arrive on the northbound side of the platform and all of the trains being stored on tracks underground made me feel less safe than normal. I know WMATA is doing the best they can to deal with the snow, but it really felt like a cluster****.

  2. What nightmare for the Fed workers (and others) who didn’t want to waste a vacation day.

    Not sure how I will get home tonight….with the detoured and limited bus routes, I might just walk to the green line.

  3. I was on the train directly behind this one – or at least I assume that is the case. As I was leaving the turnstile, there were 3 firemen entering (so I assume from that response time it couldn’t have been the train I was just leaving).

    Our train was stopped between Metro Center and Farragut for about 10 minutes. We were told there was a train still in the station, then that it had mechanical difficulty. Our driver did a great job of keeping us informed. It sounds like the derailment was in part due to the mechanical issue as well as getting it moved too quickly so other trains could get through.

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