Gov. Dannel P. Malloy went on television Wednesday evening to tell the Connecticut public to plan for a prolonged service outages between Stamford and Grand Central Station on the Metro North New Haven Rail line.
Early Wednesday morning at around 5:22 a.m. one of the feeder lines servicing the rail line was taken off line for servicing, and the one that remained in service suffered a critical problem, Malloy said. The exact problem is still unknown because Con Ed crews have been unable to inspect the “super heated” line, according to Connecticut’s governor.
“Company crews are working around the clock to make repairs to a feeder cable that failed earlier today, but repairs of this nature typically take 2-3 weeks,” Con Ed said in a statement on its web site.
Malloy asked the Connecticut public to plan on a “long-term” lack of service.
“I’m the front line guy and I’m saying plan for days,” Malloy said. He suggested telecommuting or car pooling.
“There is a worst-case scenario that would require this to go on for an extended period of time,” Malloy said. He said the feeder line that was taken out of service for repairs was expected to be back online around Oct. 14.
“I think people need to now assume this is a long-term problem. If it gets better sooner, so much the better. But I think you need to plan on a long-term problem,” Malloy said. “Is a long-term problem until Oct. 7 or until Oct. 14? Is it longer? We don’t have a definitive answer.”
The outage has already caused major headaches for commuters who took to Twitter to express their frustration.
“Oh yea total disaster area. 1 diesel train running Stamford – GC every hour. Definitely missing my 10 min commute today!” @e_coaks Tweeted.
Limited service will be offered on diesel trains that are being brought into the system, but those cars will be able to carry about 30 percent of the capacity, Malloy said. The rail line typically services about 125,000 commuters per day and is the busiest rail line in the nation. Electrical train service will still operate between New Haven and Stamford.
Metro North tickets will be honored on the Harlem Line if commuters are able to get to White Plains or any of the stations on the Harlem Line.
“It is very limited service,” Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker said of the diesel engines that will be brought into service. “Folks need to make plans or alternative plans.”
There will be six diesel engines brought into service before Thursday morning, Malloy said.
Check Metro-North’s web site for the most current information about commuting.