The subway derailment that turned a Brooklyn B train into a tangled mess and left 95 passengers injured may have been caused by a defective switch, Mayor Giuliani said yesterday.
He said the first two cars of the Coney Island-bound B train rolled out of the DeKalb station Tuesday night without a problem, but the third car somehow got stuck and went off the tracks.
“The third car, the switch didn’t work or it didn’t go over the switch correctly and it was knocked off the track,” said Giuliani.
“The train was going slowly, thank goodness, because it was just leaving the station.”
Transit Authority spokesman Al O’Leary said the stretch of track where the derailment occurred is inspected twice a week. And he said the switch was last inspected May 17.
The switch, which directs trains between express and local tracks, was installed in 1975. Tests of the switch yesterday showed it was operating without a problem.
“Exactly why the switch didn’t work, if that’s the case, the MTA is going to have to do a complete report on,” added the mayor.
There were 95 injuries reported, including one passenger who was still at Bellevue Hospital yesterday in stable condition.
Fire Department officials said 56 people were taken to hospitals in Brooklyn and Manhattan. The others were treated at the scene.
The derailment was the third in the system this year, and the second for that stretch of track.
There were no derailments last year.