Ida's Impact: LIRR Gets Back On Track; Select Service Resumes For Metro-North, NJ TRANSIT
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Massive flooding brought on by Ida's intense deluge swamped the mass transit systems in New York and New Jersey.
Metro-North says it will resume service on the Harlem and New Haven lines Friday on an enhanced weekend schedule.
Subway service remained extremely limited Thursday night with delays and partial suspensions on more than a dozen lines.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced alternate side parking rules will be suspended Friday and Saturday. They will resume Wednesday.
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NJ TRANSIT said all rail lines except Montclair-Boonton, Gladstone, Pascack Valley and Raritan Valley lines will operate on a regular weekday schedule Friday.
Delays should be expected on the Main/Bergen/Port Jervis lines due to single-tracking.
All Long Island Rail Road branches will run normal weekday service Friday.
On Friday, Sept. 3, the LIRR will run normal weekday service on all branches, with 5 extra afternoon trains from Penn Station for travelers getting an early start on the holiday weekend. LIRR crews have worked non-stop to address track damage, debris and flooding..
— LIRR. Wear a Mask. (@LIRR) September 3, 2021
Ida's historic rainfall left a lot of commuters stranded Wednesday night throughout the Tri-State Area.
Some were stranded on trains, waiting for hours.
"The power's out. There's no air conditioning, there's no power or electricity. There's no water, there's no lights. There's, I think, one functioning bathroom," Colleen Hartnect told CBS2's Cory James.
The list goes on for Hartnect and dozens of others on NJ Transit train 3881. They were stranded for nearly 10 hours after the severe storms flooded the tracks.
"Firefighters came on a little big ago, but they said they don't think they're getting us off until the water subsides," she said. "Very frustrating. Everyone is calling out of work, since people can't get to work in the morning."
Watch Cory James' report --
A CBS2 viewer on the same train sent a video of rescue crews wading through knee-deep water with flashlights. When she asked for an update, she said they told her, "Even though the rain has stopped, we are still 4 feet deep in water."
It was a similar story on Metro-North, where Chase Smith took a train from New York City to New Haven, Connecticut at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
By 4 a.m. Thursday, he was still stranded with nearly 100 other passengers.
"We were told that we couldn't go forward anymore, because of downed trees," he told James.
Smith said the emergency exit to the train was opened at one point, but they were told firefighters could not rescue them because first responders do not know if the electricity is still on the track.
"I can't remember flooding like this in the MTA in my memory, so it happens I guess," he told James.
The Long Island Rail Road suspended train service because of the weather conditions, as well.
Stick with CBS2, CBSN New York and CBSNewYork.com for more on the storm and its aftermath.