Officials say limited train service has been restored on Metro-North lines into and out of New York City’s Grand Central Station hours after a raging fire broke out beneath elevated train tracks.
Advertisement
The intense fire damaged a center column beneath a viaduct holding the elevated tracks.
Metro-North said two of the four tracks in the area of the fire were operational for Wednesday’s morning rush.
Scores of workers from Metro-North’s engineering division are installing six temporary steel columns that will surround the damaged column and connect to it and to one another, Donovan reported. The nursery stored many chemicals there; Cuomo said, “It was a private business, I heard that it was a generator that [set] on fire and there were chemicals because there was a garden supply company, which then ignited and created extraordinarily hot fire”.
NEW YORK (AP) An estimated 150,000 rail passengers had to endure overcrowded, slow commutes Wednesday, a day after a fire damaged elevated train tracks in New York City.
Metro-North is returning to a normal weekday schedule Friday, May 20, but warns commuters that crowded trains and delays are still possible.
Nicole Clarke, of Rye, New York, said she waited at Grand Central for 30 minutes before abandoning plans to take Metro-North.
Train speeds have also been reduced from 60 miles per hour to 30 miles per hour.
Crowds were much thinner at Grand Central Thursday compared to the night before, and one reporter on the New Haven line was on a practically empty train that arrived on time. “They said to go to the trains – to subways – to get to other Metro-North stations; there was no communication as to how to get there, where to go afterwards”.
He said his commute was not too bad.
“I’m optimistic we’ll get there just on time”, he said, laughing.
“Crews inspected all elements, including the supports, track, power and signal, and ran test trains to ensure safety” before reopening the tracks, according to a statement released by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority early Wednesday.
Advertisement
The FDNY said 168 firefighters responded to the fire, which also involved construction debris and several trailers and vehicles.
