After Hurricane, transit still suspended, working to restore service

NEW YORK — While Hurricane Sandy is easing up, CNN reported that several transit systems are still out of service and struggling with the aftermath, including the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (N.Y. MTA), NJ Transit, Maryland MTA, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and Amtrak.

All agencies are working to restore service as quickly as possible, but forecast delays, and some have suspended services for the rest of the day. For the full story, click here.

N.Y. MTA in particular was hit with power outages and flooding tunnels. Executive Director Joseph Lhota released a statement on service recovery:

“The New York City subway system is 108 years old, but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night. Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on our entire transportation system, in every borough and county of the region. It has brought down trees, ripped out power and inundated tunnels, rail yards and bus depots.

As of last night, seven subway tunnels under the East River flooded. Metro-North Railroad lost power from 59th Street to Croton-Harmon on the Hudson Line and to New Haven on the New Haven Line. The Long Island Rail Road evacuated its West Side Yards and suffered flooding in one East River tunnel. The Hugh L. Carey Tunnel is flooded from end to end and the Queens Midtown Tunnel also took on water and was closed. Six bus garages were disabled by high water.

We are assessing the extent of the damage and beginning the process of recovery. Our employees have shown remarkable dedication over the past few days, and I thank them on behalf of every New Yorker. In 108 years, our employees have never faced a challenge like the one that confronts us now. All of us at the MTA are committed to restoring the system as quickly as we can to help bring New York back to normal.”