L Train Service Between Manhattan And Brooklyn Resumes With Delays Following Morning Smoke Condition

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - L Train service between Manhattan and Brooklyn resumed with extensive delays late Thursday afternoon, after a smoke condition knocked out service during the morning rush hour.

As CBS2's Dick Brennan reported, it was a rough day throughout the day for L Train commuters, as well as for firefighters.

The smoke was caused by a fire in an underground electrical vault five levels below ground, in the vicinity of 14th Street and Avenue D in Alphabet City.

The incident began at around 9:17 a.m. as smoke entered the Canarsie Tunnel under the East River, between Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and First Avenue in the East Village and Stuyvesant Town.

The smoke was brought under control at around 10:50 a.m. But service from Eighth Avenue in Manhattan to Lorimer Street in Brooklyn was halted. Repairs were being completed late Thursday afternoon, and then test trains will have to be run through the tunnel, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said.

When the smoke condition first occurred, passengers were discharged from trains at the Bedford Avenue and First Avenue stops.

One firefighter had to be hospitalized with heat exhaustion and bruises.

And all day long, commuters had to figure out ways to reroute their trips.

"Every day, there's a problem. In the morning, there was a problem. Last night, there was a problem. Today, there's a problem, and nobody's telling you what's wrong. You get on one train, you get off to transfer, and you get here and you can't go anywhere," said subway rider Michelle Rodriguez. "Never ends."

Subway rider Georgette said she would have no trouble.

"Me, I'm going to go catch the A to the 4 and go home," she said. "Yes, I know where I'm going. I'm a New Yorker."

The MTA tweeted shortly after 5 p.m. that L Trains were running, but with extensive delays in both directions.

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