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BREAKING: Limited Subway Service Returns Tomorrow (But Not Below 34th Street In Manhattan)

By

Ben Yakas

Published Oct 31, 2012

Modified Oct 31, 2012

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By

Ben Yakas

Published Oct 31, 2012

Modified Oct 31, 2012

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this afternoon that limited subway service would return starting tomorrow—but not in lower Manhattan. "Buses are at full service today, limited commuter rail on Metro North and LIRR will begin at 2 p.m. today...limited NYC subway service, supplemented by a bus bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan, will begin tomorrow," he said at a Hurricane Sandy update today. But there will be no service below 34th Street in Manhattan, because the power is still out. "Limited subway service will be restored to 14 of MTA system’s 23 lines tomorrow," he also tweeted.UPDATE WITH LINE INFORMATION BELOW

Cuomo preached "patience and tolerance" on traffic and power conditions, noting that it getting power back up for over a million NY state residents would be on a day-to-day basis. We'll update as we learn more information about exactly which subway lines will be back, and how the "bus bridge" will work—Mayor Bloomberg has another press conference scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at City Hall, which will likely provide more information about the subways.

Cuomo noted he had just completed a helicopter tour of the region with Sen. Chuck Schumer. Cuomo said that because water had filled the subway tunnels in many places, the city has been frantically working to get water out of the tunnels: "Con Edison has issues, because much of their equipment is in the tunnels. Getting water out of tunnels is the main order of business right now." Cuomo also gave credit to President Obama, who "has been on top of this situation, very informed, I've spoken to him several times myself...FEMA has been fanstaitc and responsive too."

Schumer also spoke about the destruction he saw during the helicopter tour: "It looks like the pictures of London or Dresden in World War II." Schumer called the damage a "national disaster" that "needs to be treated that way by every member of Congress." He also said: "The kind of thing we feared after 9/11, that lower Manhattan would become a ghost town, is happening for a few days."

Cuomo had some very strong words about the impact global warming had on this disaster: "Part of learning from this is the recognition that climate change is a reality...Anyone who says there's not a dramatic change in weather patterns I think is denying reality."

Update: MTA Chairman Joe Lhota says that three of the seven tunnels flooded under the East River have now been cleared. The three clear ones are the 4/5, 2/3 and F; it's not clear whether these routes will be those back tomorrow. The ones that are still wet are the R, A/C, L and 7; the MTA says that some of those trains could be shifted to other tunnels.

Here's what the MTA has to say about what tomorrow morning may be like for commuters: "There will be limited subway service on several routes, supplemented by a bus shuttle between Downtown Brooklyn and Midtown. There will be no subway service between 34th St in Midtown and Downtown Brooklyn."

"We're going switch by switch, signal by signal, power substation by power station, and making sure everything is up and running," Lhota noted. "There will be more on Friday, more on Saturday. Our goal is every day to get our service back to normal." But he said there won't be any subways in lower Manhattan below 42nd Street until power is returned, which could take at least 3 days.

UPDATE: Here they are—the subways and commuter rails that are up and running, via Governor Cuomo's office:

As of 2:00PM today, the following is an up-to-date service status list of the MTA operating agencies including New York City Transit, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North and Bridges and Tunnels.

NYCT SUBWAY SERVICE:
1 trains will operate local between 242nd Street (Bronx) and Times Square-42nd Street.

2 trains will operate between 241st Street (Bronx) and Times Square-42nd Street, with express service between 96th Street and Times Square.

3 trains are suspended.

4 trains will operate in two sections making all local stops:
· Between Woodlawn (Bronx) and Grand Central-42nd Street
· Between Borough Hall and New Lots Avenue
5 trains will operate express in Brooklyn between Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and Flatbush Avenue.

6 trains will operate local between Pelham Bay Park and Grand Central-42nd Street.

7 trains are suspended.

42nd Street Shuttle S trains will operate between Times Square and Grand Central.

A trains will operate in two sections making all local stops:
· Between 168th Street (Manhattan) and 34th Street-Penn Station
· Between Jay Street/MetroTech and Lefferts Blvd.

B and C service is suspended.

D trains operate in two sections:
· Between 205th Street (Bronx) and 34th Street-Herald Square making all local stops
· In Brooklyn, between Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and Bay Parkway making express stops between Pacific Street and 36th Street

E trains are suspended.

F trains operate in two sections making all local stops:
· Between 179th Street (Queens) and 34th Street-Herald Square
· In Brooklyn, between Jay Street-MetroTech and Avenue X

G trains are suspended.

J trains operate between Jamaica Center and Hewes Street making all local stops.

L trains operate between Broadway Junction and rockaway Parkway making all local stops.

M trains operate between Myrtle Avenue-Broadway and Metropolitan Avenue.

N trains operate between Ditmars Blvd. (Queens) and 34th Street-Herald Square making all local stops.

Q trains are suspended.

R trains operate in Brooklyn between Jay Street-MetroTech and 95th Street making all local stops.

Both the Franklin Avenue and Rockaway Park S shuttles are suspended.

SHUTTLE BUSES:
All shuttle buses will operate north on 3rd Avenue and south on Lexington Avenue.

1. Between Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and 57th Street-Lexington Avenue via the Manhattan Bridge
2. Between Jay Street-MetroTech and 57th Street-Lexington Avenue via the Manhattan Bridge
3. Between Hewes Street and 57th Street-Lexington Avenue via the Williamsburg Bridge

LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD:
City Terminal - (Jamaica - Penn Station): Suspended (anticipate shuttle between these stations later tonight)

Ronkonkoma Branch: Suspended (goal to restore hourly service from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station for AM rush hour Thursday, Nov. 1)

Port Washington Branch: Suspended (goal to restore hourly service from Great Neck to Penn Station for AM rush hour Thursday, Nov. 1)

Babylon Branch: Suspended

Port Jefferson Branch: Suspended

Montauk Branch: Suspended

Hempstead Branch: Suspended

Long Beach: Suspended

Far Rockaway: Suspended

Oyster Bay Branch: Suspended

West Hempstead: Suspended

METRO-NORTH:
Hudson Line: Suspended

Upper Harlem Line: Suspended

Lower Harlem Line: Restored with hourly service

New Haven Line: Suspended

New Canaan Branch: Suspended

Danbury Branch: Suspended

Waterbury Branch: Suspended

West-of-Hudson:
Pascack Valley: Suspended
Port Jervis: Suspended

Bridges and Tunnels

Robert F. Kennedy Bridge: Open

Henry Hudson Bridge: Open

Throgs Neck Bridge: Open

Bronx-Whitestone Bridge: Open

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge: Open

Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge: Open

Cross Bay Veterans Memorial: Open northbound to Broad Chanel; Open southbound to Rockaways but subject to period closures for emergency equipment

Hugh L. Carey Tunnel: Closed

Queens Midtown Tunnel: Closed

Tagged

andrew cuomo

bus

Cuomo

frankenstorm

hurricane sandy

lirr

long island rail road

metro north

MTA

nyc transit

subway

subways

Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

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