North will return to regular weekday schedule Friday

Limited service has since been restored, and Metro-North trains are running on a Saturday schedule on Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of commuters who pour into Grand Central station in Manhattan daily from as far away as CT encountered major delays Wednesday after a fire under elevated tracks in East Harlem halted train service Tuesday evening.

Officials say crews have been working around the clock to install six temporary supports so the line can reopen, but that project is labor-intensive.

“Crews have made significant progress on repairs to the railroad’s Park Avenue Viaduct that was damaged by Tuesday’s four-alarm fire beneath the structure, Metro-North said in a statement”.

As soon as the temporary repairs are completed, Metro-North will perform structural tests including the impact of train movement over the viaduct.

He was planning to take the 7:11am train to Ardsley on the Hudson line, but it wasn’t expected to arrive until 7:42am.

“They got in there, they contained the fire to this one area”, said James Leonard, chief of department for the Fire Department of NY.

“I’m optimistic we’ll get there just on time”, he said, laughing.

Train service during the evening rush hour was halted as firefighters battled the blaze.

A train that left White Plains at 06:30 was so crowded that by the time it traveled seven stops, to Mount Vernon, no one could get on. The passengers included many teens on their way to school.

Metro-North is part of the MTA, whose subways, buses, and railroads provide 2.73 billion trips each year to New Yorkers – the equivalent of about one in every three users of mass transit in the United States and two-thirds of the nation’s rail riders.

Metro-North resumed normal service in and out of Grand Central Terminal Friday for the first time since a fire erupted under tracks in East Harlem.

Metro-North reported 60- to 80-minute delays out of Grand Central heading into the Wednesday evening rush hour and anticipated more delays for Thursday.

Customers should expect delays and extremely crowded conditions.

Metro North officials say this morning’s rush hour conditions should be nearly back to normal after a very hard few days.