A Blue Line train car jumped the tracks Saturday, stranding passengers and adding to a day of traffic gridlock and commuter headaches around the Twin Cities.
No one was injured when the Metro Transit train derailed midway between Terminal 2 of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the Mall of America. Metro Transit officials say debris on the tracks may have been responsible for the incident.
The accident, which forced hundreds of commuters off the rails and onto buses, added to snarled traffic across the Twin Cities this weekend. Northbound I-35W is closed until 5 a.m. Monday, spilling more cars than usual onto other highways and back roads. Traffic detours, scattered accidents and throngs of fans driving in for Saturday's Twins and Gopher games slowed drive times to a crawl.
The biggest disruptions hit the Blue Line. The northbound light rail train with 60 passengers aboard struck a pole holding an overhead power line. The impact knocked the train's middle car off the tracks. Metro Transit spokesman Drew Kerr said a piece of metal on the railway was possibly the cause.
Two of the three cars were removed from the scene and rail staff were working to remove the lead car before assessing the damage.
Rail service is expected to resume on Sunday. Meanwhile, buses funneled light-rail passengers between destinations throughout the afternoon and evening.
This is the second time a Blue Line train has derailed in its 10-year history, Kerr said.
In a 45-minute period after the accident, six trains unloaded passengers at Terminal 2 to await buses. A fluctuating crowd of about 300 hundred waited at the stop during that time frame. By 2 p.m., incoming buses had mostly cleared the platform.
The accident came on a day when more people than usual would have been riding the rails, either to attend weekend games or to escape the crowded northbound roads. The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed northbound I-35W between 66th Street in Richfield and I-94 in Minneapolis for maintenance and to allow crews to survey the road ahead of a major roadwork that will begin in the summer of 2017.
"We understand that the work this weekend makes driving a challenge in some parts of the metro," said MnDOT spokesman Kevin Gutknecht. "We appreciate the public's patience and ask that drivers plan ahead and take their time. The work is important. If we don't maintain the system now, the amount of work and cost later will be much higher and the inconvenience would likely be greater."
Star Tribune staff member Jeff Hargarten contributed to this report.
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