The Metro North schedule could be disrupted for weeks due to a power failure on the New Haven Line in Connecticut, it was reported. Amtrak Acela service will be delayed and won’t run Thursday.
The system might only be able to accommodate around a third of the regular commuters on the New Haven line for Thursday’s commute and for the next few days, CBS NY reported.
The rail service will offer buses and train service for the New Haven line Thursday morning onward.
Metro North posted an advisory, detailing the changes on its website.
Line tickets from New Haven will be cross-honored on the Harlem line.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy told the Hartford Courant that repairs on the line could take three weeks.
“Hopefully, this is a worst-case scenario,” Malloy said, adding that commuters should plan for a prolonged disruption.
“It’s not a fix that takes place overnight, by any stretch of the imagination,” he said.
A Con Edison spokesman told AP that railroad employees were doing work when a cable failed and another feeder went out of service. The railroad was carrying out upgrades to the power supply.
Metro-North said that trains will be extremely crowded, advising passengers to look for alternate transportation.
According to the New York Times, around 40,000 commuters take the New Haven line during rush hour.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation reported that traffic is congested on a portion of Interstate 95 near Stamford. Earlier in the day, traffic was snarled in other areas of the Interstate.
Fred Shotkin, 86, a lawyer who takes the train, told the Wall Street Journal that his train ride took an hour longer.
“I’ve been commuting for so many years, I’ve ascertained that Metro-North sooner or later figures out how to get people where they are going,” he said. “I think they did a pretty good job.”
