Politics & Government

The (Same Old) Story of Metro-North's 'Infuriating' Delays

Train service came to a standstill for nearly two hours last night, on a day that started with delays. And today, more delays on the New Haven, Harlem and Hudson Lines.

by Gary Jeanfaivre

Freezing cold waiting for a train when all you want to do is get home after a long day at work.

That was the story last night for thousands of Metro-North commuters when the railroad experienced a temporary shutdown due to signal issues. Metro-North first reported the stoppage at 8:20 p.m. — after the peak rush hour time, but still early enough to affect thousands of people.

"Hudson, Harlem and New Haven Line service is currently stopped due to signal issues," the railroad said. "Appropriate personnel are responding. We will provide additional details as they become available."

The standstill lasted nearly two hours, according to Metro-North.

But it wasn't the first problem of the day. And it wasn't the last problem of the week—Thursday actually started off with delays up to 30 minutes for commuters on all three lines. Electrical issues and wire damage caused by the sub-zero temperatures were the culprit, Metro-North said.

Commuters let their feelings be known.

"The Metro-North Railroad Commuter Council is troubled by the series of events that led to a two-hour service suspension on Metro-North’s East of Hudson lines yesterday evening and additional hours of disruption while normal service was restored. The decision to perform maintenance on a critical control system during a heavy travel period without appropriate safeguards is particularly alarming in view of the series of incidents of the past year. 
 
“The safe transport of its riders must always be a top priority for Metro-North Railroad” said Metro-North Railroad Commuter Council Chair Randolph Glucksman in a press release Jan. 24. “The major service disruption of last evening does not indicate that the riders were given proper consideration in planning maintenance work. We look forward to the results an independent review of the incident, as was directed by MTA Chairman Prendergast.”

And they took out their frustrations on Twitter. 

"It's been steadily going downhill. Every day you think it can't get worse & bam new issue. 7 yrs commuting."— Alysia Morris.

"This is turning into a full time job just Tweeting about MN in meltdown." — CT Rail Commuters.


Are you a rail commuter? What's your overall opinion of Metro-North?
Patch Editor Lanning Taliaferro contributed to this report. 


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