Metro-North will operate on a Saturday schedule until further notice as crews work to fix damage caused by a fire Tuesday evening in New York City.
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But the fire damaged the elevated Metro-North tracks, causing the railroad to use an abbreviated Saturday schedule on Wednesday. The fire broke out Tuesday night at a garden center underneath Metro-North tracks in Manhattan’s East Harlem section, north of Grand Central Terminal, halting train service for hours and damaging a center column beneath a viaduct holding the elevated tracks.
Metro-North said the blaze caused structural damage to a steel supporting column and three adjacent horizontal steel girders.
“The fire was so hot that they could hear the rivets, the bolts popping”, Cuomo said.
NEW YORK (AP) – Thousands of rail passengers will have to deal with another day of slow commutes as crews fix elevated train tracks in New York City that were damaged by a fire.
In this photo provided by Benjamin Parkin, firefighters battle a blaze at the Metro-North railroad tracks in New York, Tuesday, May 17, 2016.
The railroad said Wednesday that the damaged column, located near the centerline of a viaduct, is an older design with lattice-like steel.
Passengers should be prepared for minor delays resulting from track speed restrictions, which the railroad said it hopes to clear in the coming days.
Commuters we spoke with say they understand and one who traveled into New York Wednesday says the ride wasn’t as bad as he’d expected.
Commuters on the Hudson line can take the No. 4, B or D trains to the 161 Street-Yankee Stadium subway station to connect to the Yankees-East 153 Street station on Metro-North, the transportation authority said. Even then, trains would be moving at reduced speeds on some tracks into and out of Grand Central. The passengers included many teens on their way to school.
Trains running on the tracks should return to their normal frequency Friday morning, officials said.
“I had to stand the whole time”. My coordinator called to tell me about the delays.
Customers should continue to expect delays and crowds, and are encouraged to work from home or make other travel plans, the MTA statement said.
The fire in NY shut down two of the four tracks that carry trains to and from Grand Central station.
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Kate Stamaris commutes to South Norwalk, Connecticut, every morning and had been waiting 45 minutes yesterday morning for the next train out of Grand Central.
