As the Hurricane Irene leaves the region, the MTA scrambles to restore services, starting with busses. At 4:30 p.m., the MTA announced they will begin restoring limited bus service in New York City.
“Restoration will begin in Manhattan and the Bronx, followed by Queens and Brooklyn. Conditions in Staten Island continue to prevent restoration of service at this time,” read a statement on the MTA website. The MTA will not be charging fares today.
The MTA reported that Hurricane Irene left power outages, downed trees, and flooding of the track and yard across the region causing restoration to be a lengthier process. The conditions post-hurricane affect different transportation systems but with the help of National Guard members, the MTA is hurrying to restore transportation in all areas as soon as possible.
Metro-North is experiencing the most damage including major flooding, power outages and downed trees at numerous locations on all lines and a mudslide on the Hudson Line at Spuyten Duyvil.
As far as the New York City Subway, the process to assess the subway system is extensive and will take some time. The process includes assessing tracks and running test trains before running passenger trains. The MTA says pump trains are currently operating in places where there’s water on tracks.
As far as the Long Island Rail Road, the MTA’s biggest problem is downed trees and flooding. Also, wind gusts are still a safety hazard and crews will reportedly only be dispatched when conditions improve.
Buses and bus operators in both New York City and Long Island are working to restore service as soon as possible, with navigating around flooded streets and downed trees the biggest issue. According to the MTA, limited restoration of bus service is likely before other MTA services are restored.
MTA also reported that most bridges are operating as usual but some with reduced speed restrictions.
