Last night: Chaos on (7) shuttle bus & Metro-North New Haven line train stuck for 2 hrs @ Pelham, NY
Posted by
GOlD_12tH
on Tue Feb 3 13:45:09 2015
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Civilized people, lol
A Metro-North train was stuck for two hours in Westchester County Monday night due to a weather-related power problem.
The train had neither power nor heat during that time, officials told CBS2.
A train on the New Haven Line was immobilized at 6:41 p.m., due to weather-related problems on overhead wires, Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Aaron Donovan told WCBS 880.
The train was going from Grand Central Station to Harrison, and was stuck for two hours, according to the MTA.
On Twitter, Metro-North passengers said they were without power during the extended delay, and also complained that they were not given any information by Metro-North.
@MetroNorth: Inbound and Outbound Service to/from Grand Central Terminal is now operating on or close to schedule. We apologize for any inconvenience.
@Nkanterman: @MetroNorth But what about the train stuck south of Pelham with no power for over 2 hrs. Plz Respond. #badcustomerservice
A passenger on the train, Stewart Aaron, told CBS2 that commuters were told a rescue train would be coming not long after the train stopped. But crews decided to take another course of action that took longer, according to Aaron.
“We lost lights, we lost heat, and… the conductor came on after a little while — and said they’re sending rescue train and the train will be there in 10 minutes,” Aaron told CBS2. “And that was about 7, 7:10 when that happened and then the next thing we knew they said well, instead of that we’re going to try to fix the so-called pantograph, which are the things on top of the train that make the electrical connection reach the overhead wires and the proceeded to keep us there as trains went by us including, on the track right next to ours.”
Passengers were fit to be tied, Stewart said.
“Extreme frustration and cold. Because there was no heat, it was chilly, and the fact that said they would send a rescue train and it would be there in 10 minutes and it didn’t arrive as other trains kept going by us,” he said. “It was just extremely frustrating and distressing.”
Stewart said even when the rescue train pulled up, there was no announcement to tell people what direction they should be going, and the passengers had to figure it out for themselves.
“Confusion and poor judgment and poor execution on Metro-North and its crew. If they had made a decision at 7 o’clock to bring a rescue train, they could have pulled the train up, everybody could have gotten off, and we would have been a half hour to 40 minutes delayed,” he said. “Instead, it was two and a half hours.”
Passengers were transferred to another train around 9 p.m. and resumed their trip. Another passenger tweeted a vine video showing the transfer to another train.
The Metro-North problem was one of several that erupted Monday as an icy snowstorm clobbered the Tri-State Area.
On the No. 7 subway line, passengers were stranded for more than two hours after a Manhattan-bound train lost power between stations near Queensboro Plaza around 9 a.m. Even in the late night hours, the line remained shut down between Times Square-42nd Street in Manhattan and 74th Street-Broadway in Queens due to ice on the third rail and running rails near Queensboro Plaza.
The problems all started when someone dropped an umbrella on the third rail, causing the MTA to shut down service. When trains stopped running, icing resulted and caused major delays.
It was not clear whether the No. 7 line would be back in regular operation for the morning rush.
Meanwhile, the entire Long Island Rail Road system was suspended late in the evening rush due to unspecified fire activity at Penn Station.
It was not known late Monday whether the No. 7 train would be back to normal service Tuesday morning.
Sporadic delays continued on the Metro-North and the LIRR late Monday night. The New Haven Line on the Metro-North still had 30-minute delays as of just before 10:30 p.m.
That's why they should have told you. I did it once and found it was a longer walk than I thought, like a quarter mile and not a pleasant walk even in good weather.
Bus maps are easily accessible from the Train station or their smart phones. Fighting over shuttle buses for 2 hours when there are alternatives? This should be a lesson to them all, figure out alternative routes.
If the QB Line is down, I'll take the J to Jamaica, if that's down I'll take the LIRR, or 7 to Flushing and a bus.
