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Winter Weather Service Advisories

Posted by
on December 27th, 2010 at 12:53 am

The first major storm of the 2010-11 winter season is upon us & definitely living up to the hype it received over the last few days. As expected, service across the region has been crippled in one way or another. Here is the latest info from the MTA:

The Long Island Rail Road has suspended passenger service system wide in both directions due to the current blizzard conditions. NYC Transit is honoring LIRR tickets at Penn, Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica. The LIRR will continue throughout the night to operate equipment trains to clear snow from the tracks.

Metro-North Railroad, NYC bus and subway service and Long Island Bus service is running on or close to schedule, with scattered weather related delays. Limited-Stop bus service in New York City has been suspended, instead all buses will make local stops.

On Monday, Long Island Rail Road will operate on a Holiday schedule, Metro-North Railroad will operate on a Sunday schedule. If you plan to travel, plan accordingly. We advise customers to please check back frequently for updates on impacts to service. Click on the links below for the latest information from each of our services.

NYC Transit:

The Department of Buses has suspended all Limited-Stop bus service due to the snow and street conditions. In addition, crews have chained articulated buses and buses that will be in operation during the overnight. Particular attention is being paid to routes with hilly sections. Salt Truck crews are scheduled. To help keep bus service moving, NYC Transit is working with the Department of Sanitation to assist in deployment of snow removal forces to problem areas.
Winter storm preparations began earlier this weekend.

Subways personnel prepared de-icers, snow throwers and additional track sweepers for deployment against what could amount to 16 inches of snowfall and wind-driven drifts of several feet. Maintenance workers have been assigned to 12-hour shifts and managers called in from vacation to deal with the first significant snowfall of the season.

To insure that the fleet is available and ready for rush-hour service on Monday morning, the process of moving trains usually parked out doors to underground locations began on Saturday continued through today. In some locations trains that normally operate express have to run on local tracks instead.

Snow throwers are in place in vulnerable portions of the system such as the Bronx’ Dyre Avenue Line, the Rockaways in Queens and the Sea Beach in Brooklyn. They will begin their work once accumulations have reached four inches or more. Additionally, there will be strong focus on keeping station staircases and outdoor platforms cleared and salted.

A portion of the subway fleet on lines that travel outdoors and all Staten Island Railway trains are operating with scraper shoes to help prevent ice build up on the electrified third rail which can cause an interruption of electrical power resulting in stalled trains. To power work equipment, diesel locomotives are fueled and ready for service.

Long Island Rail Road:

The LIRR has suspended passenger service systemwide in both directions due to the blizzard. NYC Transit is honoring LIRR tickets for subway service at Penn Station, Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica Station. The LIRR will continue throughout the night to operate equipment trains to clear snow from the tracks.

The LIRR plans to run on a holiday schedule for Monday. Due to inclement weather, platforms and staircases may be icy and slippery. Please use handrails on staircases and be careful when boarding and exiting trains. Please stay clear of platform edges.

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Long Island Bus:

LI Bus is experiencing some delays due to weather and road conditions.

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Metro-North Railroad:

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On Monday, December 27th Metro-North will operate a regular Sunday schedule on the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines due to the blizzard. See a current October 17 timetable or view our schedules page for details on train times.

Customers should listen for station announcements, and use caution getting on and off of trains. Please continue checking this website for updates.

West-of-Hudson Customers: On Monday, December 27, NJ TRANSIT will operate on an Enhanced Weekend Schedule. To plan a rail trip, use January 17 as your travel date in the trip planner at http://www.njtransit.com

Special Monday, December 27th schedules for the Hudson Rail Link, Haverstraw-Ossining Ferry and Newburgh-Beacon Ferry are available from their links on our Connecting Services page.

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Bridges & Tunnels:

Brooklyn Battery Tunnel:

The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel’s southbound West Street entrance is closed; motorists should follow detour for alternate access to Brooklyn-bound Tunnel.

Verrazano-Narrows:

The 92nd Street and Belt Parkway entrance ramps on the westbound lower level of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge are closed to traffic. The eastbound lower level is also closed at this time.

The westbound lower level remains open to traffic from the Gowanus + BQE entrance ramps.

Other facilities:

All other facilities are reporting that they are currently engaged in snow operations with no weather related issues affecting operations at this time.
Roadway surfaces are wet and traffic is moving at a moderate pace.

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MTA Bus Company:

Bus service is operating close to schedule, with scattered weather related delays. All Limited-stop service has been suspended, buses will make all local stops instead. Crews have chained buses that will be in operation during the overnight. Particular attention is being paid to routes with hilly sections. Salt Truck crews are scheduled.

To help keep bus service moving, MTA Bus & NYC Transit are working with the Department of Sanitation to assist in deployment of snow removal forces to problem areas.

Click these links for updated information throughout the storm:

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Service Diversions 12-24-10

Posted by
on December 24th, 2010 at 5:01 am

I just updated the Service Diversions page by removing all of the scheduled work that wrapped up a minute ago. The weekend diversions which I posted yesterday have now moved to the top followed by the subsequent work during the week & beyond.

Don’t forget to click these threads to find out service information plans for Christmas Eve & Christmas which includes extra railroad service: Buses & Subways, Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), & Metro-North Railroad.

I suggest you print out a copy of the page to carry with you or use any internet capable handheld device to access Transit Blogger’s mobile site. The next update will be on Monday at 5:01 AM when the weekend work scheduled to wrap up by 5 AM is removed. Everyone have a wonderful weekend & a Merry Christmas!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Service Diversions 12-23-10

Posted by
on December 23rd, 2010 at 5:33 am

I have just updated the Service Diversions page with the latest planned work for the weekend, following week, & beyond in some cases. As is always the case, the weekend work schedule is extremely light due to it being the holiday season.

The next update will be on Christmas Eve at 5:01 AM when the diversions scheduled to wrap up by a minute earlier are removed. Please print out a copy of the diversions before you head out to your destination. If you have a internet enabled mobile device, use it to access the Transit Blogger mobile site. Stay safe!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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NYC Buses & Subways Holiday Service Advisory

Posted by
on December 23rd, 2010 at 5:30 am

The MTA sent out a reminder about the holiday service advisory for NYC Transit buses & subways:

MTA New York City Transit and MTA Bus announced that on the upcoming holiday eve, Friday, December 24, buses and subways will run on a Saturday schedule. Customers who are traveling by bus or subway on Christmas Eve should check Saturday schedules, lines and routes.

On subways, this means that certain routes like the No. 5 to Nereid Avenue, Nos. 6 and 7 express trains, the rush hour Rockaway Park A, the entire B, the 179th Street E, the M in Manhattan and Queens, the Q in Astoria and the Z skip-stop will not be running on Friday.

On buses, there are many routes that either do not operate on Saturdays, or do not run on part of the route or at certain hours. Some routes which formerly operated on Saturday no longer do, including the B2, B24, B69, Bx20, Bx34, Bx55, M8, M21, M50, Q31, Q76, S54, S76, X27 and X28.

On Christmas Day, Saturday, December 25, subways will run on a Saturday schedule and buses will operate on a Sunday schedule.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Two Rockaway Stations Reopened

Posted by
on December 23rd, 2010 at 5:26 am

If you have been a regular visitor to the Service Diversions page or a rider of the A Train in the Rockaways, you would know about the constant closure of stations in the area due to the $117M station renovation projects taking place. Yesterday morning, two of the stations reopened after their renovations were finally completed. Here is more from a press release:

MTA NYC Transit today announced the reopening of the Rockaway Park-bound platforms at the Beach 105th Street-Seaside and Beach 90th Street-Holland stations.

The rehabilitation of these stations is part of a $117 million project encompassing nine stations on the Rockaway Peninsula. The work on the line includes new canopies over the stairs and platforms, redesign of the area around the station booth, renewal of mezzanine and platform floors, replacing platform edges and ADA tactile warning strips, the installation of vandal-resistant fluorescent lighting and a new, high-quality public address system. ADA elevators will be installed at the Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue station. In addition, NYC Transit is replacing track panels on both the Far Rockaway and Rockaway Park branches.

Far Rockaway Branch Stations (Beach 67th – Far Rockaway):

The Manhattan-bound platforms at the Beach 25th Street-Wavecrest, Beach 44th Street-Frank Avenue and Beach 67th Street-Gaston Avenue stations are presently closed and are scheduled to reopen in January 2011. The Manhattan-bound platforms of the Beach 36th Street-Edgemere and Beach 60th Street station will close in January 2011 for approximately 18 weeks. Work on this branch along with the installation of ADA elevators at Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.

Rockaway Park Branch Stations (Beach 90th – Rockaway Park):
Although weekend closures for the Beach 90th Street-Holland, Beach 98th Street-Playland and Beach 105th Street-Seaside stations have ended, work will continue on other station components. The expected completion date for the Rockaway Park line stations is the fall of 2011.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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