Passengers arriving home in Wilton at the Cannondale railroad station Wednesday evening were coping with the delays and schedule changes from the bad weather. "It's been messy, but surprisingly good," David Iacoponi said as he cleaned snow from his car before heading home. "It's not worth complaining about."
Commuters relying on the Metro-North New Haven Line will be adjusting their routines after the recent storms caused downed wires and equipment shortages.
"The extreme weather causes the electronic and air systems on our 40-year-old plus New Haven Line fleet to fail," MTA officials said in a statement.
New Haven Line passengers are looking at 20- to 25-minute delays and packed cars on all trains this week. About half of its 337 train cars are out of service. Problems include frozen brakes, doors jammed by ice and traction motors that need to be replaced. A passenger on a packed train from New Canaan last week posted a video online of a door open with people standing inches away while passing through Harlem.
Wilton resident Pat Meserole has experienced many of these problems commuting back and forth to New York City everyday, including two-and-a-half hour trip Wednesday. Meserole is happy to have generous bosses.
"My bosses are very understandable when it comes to me being late because of the trains," Meserole said as she made her way off of the platform.
The MTA in its statement said, "There are no quick fixes."
Employees will be working around the clock, making repairs and replacing parts in an effort to have the cars running as soon as possible. With the shortage of cars, the MTA said, "We are forced to decide whether we can operate all our trains with less cars or whether we must cancel trains. Unfortunately, this week will have to do both."
You can read more:
Your fellow Fairfield County train riders also are speaking out about Metro-North. To see more stories, click on the headlines below:
Metro-North Cuts Service for February
Darien Commuters Left in the Cold by Train Delays
Metro-North Problems Irk Fairfielders
Rail Riders in Greenwich Face Delays and Packed Trains
Weather, Delays Aggravate New Canaan Metro-North Riders
New Canaan Train Riders Endure Tree Delay
Riders in Norwalk Learn To Live With Train Woes
Stamford Train Tales: From Smooth to Nightmare
Be part of the conversation: How do you cope with train problems on the New Haven Line?
Click here to follow Daily Voice and receive free news updates.
