Man questioned in placing metal debris on subway tracks

Police are questioning a man believed to have placed heavy debris on a set of Broad Street Line subway tracks.

Early Sunday morning, a train traveling southbound struck a metal barrel and several bags of track clips on the southbound tracks near North Philadelphia station. The train was headed to the Walnut-Locust Station at 4:25 a.m. to begin service for the day and was not carrying passengers. No injuries were reported, neither was there any significant damage to the train or the rails.

A SEPTA spokesman said the items had been stored away from the track and appeared to have been deliberately placed on the tracks.

A surveillance camera captured video of a man entering the track area shortly before 3 a.m. at the Susquehanna/Dauphin Station. The man was later recorded coming up from the tracks area at Cecil B. Moore and Girard Stations, the spokesman said.

In a statement, a SEPTA spokesman said "(a)lthough the intentions of this individual are unknown, his actions could have placed others in harm's way and, in that the power source for the train - the third rail – was live, due to his risky behavior this individual also placed himself in danger."