Authorities were only able to restore service on two of Metro-North’s four lines in time for the morning rush hour and even then train speed was reduced from 60 mph to 30 mph. Crews are installing six temporary steel columns.
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Officials are warning commuters to expect delays and extremely crowded conditions.
A massive fire raged under the tracks in Harlem Tuesday night, leaving only two of the four tracks open.
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig). As a Metro-North train passes over, a police officer directs pedestrians around the site of an extinguished fire in New York, Wednesday, May 18, 2016.
If Wednesday is a preview for the days ahead, Metro-North commuters should be sure to budget plenty of time for delays and, at some stations, be prepared to switch tracks if service is suddenly changed at their station.
The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) was investigating the cause of the blaze that broke out at about 7 p.m. EDT on Tuesday under a section of elevated track, disrupting the evening rush for tens of thousands of Metro North passengers traveling to New York’s Dutchess and Westchester counties and CT.
“We need to ensure that Metro-North – and railroads nationwide – are regularly reviewing rail track and taking all steps necessary to ensure that incendiary, highly combustible materials are stored far away from passenger trains and tracks”, he said.
At 4:30 a.m. the MTA said that limited Metro-North service to and from Grand Central Terminal had been restored, but that delays and overcrowding are expected throughout the day as repairs continue. On Wednesday, packed trains were delayed up to an hour and a half.
Yesterday morning, some commuters were surprised to learn that their regular morning trains had been canceled, but most took it in stride.
The fire underneath the viaduct caused structural damage to one steel supporting column and three adjacent horizontal steel girders that run east-west along the width of the underside of the viaduct and are known in engineering terminology as floor beam stringers, according to Metro-North.
Metro-North commuter Mike Joshi, who teaches in Brooklyn, got on at Southport, Connecticut.
“I’m optimistic we’ll get there just on time”, he said, laughing. Service was completely suspended last night to and from Grand Central Terminal, forcing passengers to find other ways to points north-like take the subway to stations in the Bronx to connect with Metro-North trains there or crashing with a friend.
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The fire erupted at a garden center underneath the tracks in New York City on Tuesday evening. “The fire was so hot that they could hear the rivets, the bolts popping”.
