Right to left; NTSB Board Member Earl Weener and lead investigator Michael Hiller

The NTSB say they are turning over the scene of the accident to metro north tonight so they can begin rebuilding the tracks unimpeded.

At a press conference, NTSB Board Member Earl Weener said that as of this afternoon all rail cars are being moved to the MNR rail yard in Bridgeport for a more full inspection. Two sections of track are being taken to Washington, D.C. to be evaluated to see if they are relevant to the crash

Weener estimates that it will take about a year to get a final report done but some information about the crash is coming to light; data recorders indicate both trains were going about 70 miles per hour at the time of the collision impact

WARNING: The video features raw footage at the time of the crash and lots of explicit language.

Photos from inside Metro-North train crash

“Commuters need to be prepared for a long commute on Monday,” the alert states. “Please make alternate plans and please consider staying home if possible. I-95 is expected to be overloaded. Metro North may have some buses available but the only thing they have said so far is that they will not have enough to handle the 20,000 passengers that travel this section of the line.”

The department advises commuters to check its Facebook page, website, and local media for updates. Not a bad idea.

H/T to Facebook user Kristen Record.

Metro North will not be able to provide bus service for the 15,000 to 20,000 passengers who ride the train along the affected stretch of track on weekdays, Aaron Donovan, the Metro-North spokesman said Sunday morning.
“Moving 15,00 to 20,000 people by buses presents some enormous logistical challenges,” he said.

Check back for commuting updates. We’ll be checking with the Railroad and letting you know what your options will be.

Trains to and from South Norwalk are running at a reduced, hourly rate.

Metro-North Railroad says regular service is running between Stamford and Grand Central, but suggests travelers use the Harlem Line if possible, as trains on the New Haven Line are expected to be crowded.

Regular service is in operation on the New Canaan and Danbury branches.

Bus service is running between Waterbury and Bridgeport.

If you’re taking the train to Yankee Stadium, you’ll need to get on in Stamford.

Officials have not announced when full regular service will be restored, and repairs will have to wait until after the NTSB’s investigation into the crash is finished.

Click here for Metro-North’s train schedule.

The above photo was taken inside one of the trains that collided at the Bridgeport/Fairfield line Friday. Photos were taken by passenger Helen Dodson of Fairfield.

The above photo was taken inside one of the trains that collided at the Bridgeport/Fairfield line Friday. Photos were taken by passenger Helen Dodson of Fairfield.

Helen Dodson usually drives from her home in Fairfield to her job in the public affairs department of Yale University in Fairifield. But, on Friday, her daughter was in town and wanted to use the car. So Dodson took the train, making her one of the many people who was on board of one of the two trains that collided at the Fairfield/Bridgeport line Friday evening. Above are some photos she took from the inside of the train after the collision.

Dodson, who was on the train from New Haven, said she knew something wasn’t right when the train began slowing down after the Bridgeport stop. Shortly thereafter, “you heard sort of a screeching sound and it just jolted to a stop.” Dodson said she saw clouds of dust and the lights went out in the car. Then someone came on the PA system asking if there were any doctors or nurses on board. “No one knew what was going on,” Dodson said. “We were just sort of stunned walking around.”

Passengers were then asked to evacuate. Dodson said she was lucky — she wasn’t hurt, and didn’t see anyone who was badly injured. Mostly, she just saw people who were scared. “A lot of people were in shocking,” she said. “They were crying and very upset.”

Santiago, district manager for Metro North, was posted at the train station for much of Saturday mainly to tell people that there would be no train. Service to and from that station, and other, was suspended following a train derailment and crash at the Bridgeport/Fairfield line Friday evening. Santiago was one piece in a multi-faceted warning system, which also included a long PA announcement about the suspension and an illuminated sign announcing the suspension.

Luckily for him, Santiago didn’t see a lot of angry commuters while standing vigil on the platform.

“Things have been pretty slow,” he said. “I’ve been noticing a lot of people swinging by who seem to know the trains are suspended, but are looking for a contingency plan for Monday morning.”

So far, Santiago said, he isn’t aware of a contingency. He said he’s been referring most people seeking a train into New York to the South Norwalk station, where train service was still running. But he only saw a few people who didn’t seem aware of the suspension.

One of the few groups who ventured to the station Saturday afternoon was one led by Deirdre Colon of Wolcott. But Colon wasn’t a frustrated commuter looking for a train. She was just a frustrated mom who left her car at the train station on Friday and boarded a train to New York to take her son to an audition for an AT&T commercial. She and her son Gemini, 11, were supposed to be on one of the trains that crashed, but they took a later one because Gemini wanted to stop and visit the Empire State Building after his audition.

“I saved everybody’s life,” Gemini declared.

Deirdre said it became clear that something was wrong when the train was delayed, but train personnel weren’t telling passengers anything. “Nobody really knew what was happening, but if you were on Facebook, you saw what was going on,” she said. She said she was on the train for an hour and a half and “I was starting to get claustrophobic.”

Eventually, the train stopped in South Norwalk, and her husband came to pick her up.