Most Subway Service Back, But Slow Go Expected Monday Morning
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - In the midst of the destruction and rebuilding, reality began to set in Sunday night for New Yorkers who must return to work.
As of Sunday evening, the G Line between Brooklyn and Queens remained completely shut down, and the L line was only running in the far reaches of Brooklyn, but most of the rest of the MTA subway system was up and running a week after a systemwide shutdown a week ago for Superstorm Sandy.
As of midday Sunday, the G line remained completely shut down from its run between Church Avenue in Brooklyn and Court Square-23rd Street in Queens. Most of the L Line also remained shut down, except for a short stretch between Broadway Junction and Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway in Brooklyn.
The A line also remained shut down south of 34th Street-Penn Station and north of 168th Street. C and E service also remained suspended.
A trains were also running from Jay Street-MetroTech in Brooklyn to Ozone Park-Lefferts Boulevard in Queens.
But the 1, 2 and 3 lines were largely back in operation as of late Sunday afternoon, although the latest service updates showed the trains stopping at 14th Street in Manhattan.
The F Line also reopened Saturday afternoon from 179th Street in Queens to Avenue X in Brooklyn – including service between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Limited service also returned on the Q Line – between Kings Highway and Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and on the D Line – between 205th Street in the Bronx and Bay Parkway in Brooklyn.
Full service on the 4, 5 and 6 lines, the 7 line, and the D, J and M lines resumed Saturday. But the B, C, E and Z lines remained halted Sunday night.
And as CBS 2's Dick Brennan reported, subway riders were bracing for a slow go come Monday morning.
"I think that the commute into Midtown and whatnot is going to be hectic," said Ashley Herendeen of the East Village. "My plan is to get up super-early and get to work before everyone's there."
After almost a week of pumping out Sandy's floodwaters, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said despite the increase in capacity, straphangers can expect delays for a variety of reasons.
"The volume is going to be way up tomorrow, the schools will be open, and because of the gas problem, you will have many more people on mass transit," said Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The commuter lines said they will be up and running Monday morning, but the question remained as to how quickly they would be moving.
Speaking on CBS 2 Sunday morning, Charles Seaton with the MTA said crews worked tirelessly to get trains rolling again.
"We had thousands of dedicated workers. Imagine what they had to do. They had to pump out tunnels, they had to clean debris, they had to restore electricity, they had to check signals, replace, repair components. They had to do so much it makes me tired even thinking about how much they had to do," Seaton told CBS 2.
eaton warned that badly flooded lines will take longer to restore.
"L and G trains will be out a while longer because of flooding. Also, A service is going to be out a while longer up in northern Manhattan but we're working as quickly and as hard as we can to get as much service back as quickly as we can," Seaton said.
Still, Seaton said the progress that has been made should bring a sense of normalcy when the work week begins.
"We've got some electrical problems, switching problems. But we're able to put them back together again and we are going to be restoring service throughout the day today, overnight and hopefully we are going to have as good a rush hour as possible tomorrow morning," Seaton told CBS 2.
Elsewhere in the MTA system, the Long Island railroad will operate on a modified schedule on all branches Monday morning, except for the Long Beach branch. Trains on the Ronkonkoma Branch will not run east of Ronkonkoma, and trains on the Montauk branch will not run east of Speonk.
Off-peak fares will be in effect Monday, and the onboard penalty fare will be waived. The October monthly fare ticket may still be used through Monday.
Some on the Long Island Railroad said regardless of the problems, taking the train is better than driving.
"I think that it's dependable right now, whereas traveling by car, you don't know with the gas situation, and it could take 2, 3 hours to get in the city," Said Bill Zocchia of Babylon.
"My daughter was on Thursday, train right on time as scheduled," said Central Islip resident Roseann Damato. "I'm hoping for good things. Hoping."
Some kids going back to school hope, the train never comes.
"I don't want to go back," said Mansfield Warren Jr., but when asked if he thought he would go back to school, he said, "unfortunately, yes."
The Metro-North Line will also offer near-normal service on all branches east of the Hudson River, except for the New Canaan branch, which will be served by buses.
West of the Hudson, the Metro-North will run four inbound trains in the morning and in the afternoon between Port Jervis and Secaucus. The Newburgh-Beacon Ferry and the Haverstraw-Ossining Ferry will also be back in operation Monday morning, as will the Newburgh-Beacon Bus from the park and ride lot at Route 17K.
Monthly and weekly tickets from the Port Jervis Line will be good for use at any Hudson Line station through Monday.
Metro-North service will remain suspended Monday on the Pascack Valley Line.
