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Hundreds of commuters were stranded Thursday morning due to problems with the WALK Bridge in Norwalk. It was just the latest in a yearlong series of service disruptions -- ranging from inconveniences to more than weeklong breaks in service to deadly derailments -- that has plagued the nation's busiest commuter railroad. Service problems began at about 6 a.m., but trains began running again at 9 a.m. after crews were able to close the bridge.
“The dangerous part about it is that it’s old,” Bill Lardi of Monroe said of the bridge. Metro-North spokeswoman Meredith Daniels said the bridge is 118 years old.
One stranded Fairfield resident said he’s lucky because he could just go and work from home rather than wait for the train to take him to the office.
But Lardi was trying to get to Stamford for work. "It's not a new problem," he said. Even as they began to move, he said the trains would be backed up for a long time Thursday as Metro-North tries to get back on schedule. “It’s just going to change everything today.”
Lardi said he boarded the 6:57 a.m. train in Bridgeport, where it stayed for a short time. It stopped at the Fairfield Metro station for around 15 minutes, then again at the Fairfield station, where it stayed until shortly after 9 a.m.
For Shelton resident Everloy Leon, figuring out what to do while the train is stopped depends on a lot of things.
“It depends on where you are when you get stuck,” Leon said. “If it’s early enough I might drive.”
But he added that I-95 can be just as slow if you get on the road too late in the morning.
Bridgeport resident Sonya Moncrieffe agreed with that as she was stuck waiting while trying to get to her office in South Norwalk.
“The train is still a better option,” Moncrieffe said. Luckily, her employer is understanding that Metro-North can be unpredictable and that she is sometimes late.
As if the commuters needed a reminder, an announcement at the Fairfield station shortly after 9 a.m. advised that no trains are running on schedule.
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