Light At The End Of The Tunnel: Full Service On New Haven Line Expected To Resume Monday
STAMFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- Service on Metro-North's New Haven line should be back to normal for the Monday morning commute, officials announced Friday.
Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Jim Redeker said Metro-North will conduct a test running trains on the rails as the final stage to ensure the repairs were successful.
"That project will take us all weekend and people will have to stay tuned for sure, but we do think that Monday will be full service," Redeker told WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau. "The original schedule was for Oct. 14 so it is a good week ahead of schedule."
Light At The End Of The Tunnel: Full Service On New Haven Line Expected To Resume Monday
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in a statement Friday afternoon said full service will be back in time for the Monday morning commute, "assuming the new substation which received Con Edison power today is found reliable during our testing over the weekend."
"The substation is charging, if you will. It takes about 24 hours for it to actually heat up to be ready to run tests," Metro-North spokeswoman Marjorie Anders told WCBS 880's Peter Haskell.
As a result of the weekend testing, there will be reduced weekend service.
LINK: MNR Service Update
Reduced hourly service from all New Haven line stations will run in both directions all day on Saturday and Sunday, with the exception of Metro-North's Direct New Haven line service to the Meadowlands. That service will not operate on Sunday, the MTA announced.
Light At The End Of The Tunnel: Full Service On New Haven Line Expected To Resume Monday
The transit agency held a special board meeting earlier this week to approve credits for weekly and monthly ticket holders impacted by the service disruption.
On Friday evening, the MTA posted its plan to issue credits to the tens of thousands of affected commuters.
Customers holding weekly tickets valid from Sept. 25 to the date of full service resumption can begin applying for the credits on Oct 9. Customers with monthly tickets for September and October can begin applying for the credit on Oct. 20, when November monthly tickets go on sale, the MTA announced.
Ticket holders can go to the ticket window at Grand Central Terminal or any New Haven line station to have the credit applied to a new ticket, the agency announced. For more information on the credit, click here.
Power was knocked out to the entire New Haven line early on Sept. 25 due to a failed Con Edison feeder cable. A second feeder cable was previously taken offline for scheduled service.
The New Haven line was running at about 50 percent capacity because of the outage until this week, when service was boosted to 65 percent of normal.
Frustrated commuters have complained of overcrowded trains, long wait times and poor communication since the service disruption started.
Previously, MTA officials said normal service between New Haven and New York City would resume by Oct. 8.
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