Just a few minutes ago, the South Lake Union streetcar pulled out of the stop at Westlake, drove swiftly onto the opposite track on the left side of the street (heading into traffic), jumped the tracks, and dragged along the street for a while before coming to a stop in the middle of the intersection.



Fortunately, according to our source, there were only "about three people on board," and the driver let them all off after he came to a stop.

UPDATE: King County Metro spokeswoman Linda Thielke says the derailment was caused by a switching malfunction, which made the northbound train switch over to the southbound tracks (and into oncoming traffic) before it came to a stop. Thielke says a "re-railing crew" was headed to the scene; she didn't know when the streetcar would be back in service.