Hurricane Sandy

ngotwalt wrote:It is still there as far as I know, there was not a reason to evacuate it. The station is in a low lying area...but not that low lying. Six inches of rain shouldn't be sufficient to cause the flooding needed to put the Harrisburg station anywhere near danger.
Cheers,
Nick

last year was what, 19 inches of rain over a week or two? I think they can tell if they need to worry by the river crest forecast. I'd guess storing some in lancaster would be optimal when the need arises again (what was it, 35 years ago the last time harrisburg flooded like that?)

I copied the following from NBC10 Philadelphias web site convering NJ Gov Cristies rememarks today

Elsewhere in Jersey, Christie said two dozen small train freight cars were swept by a tidal surge off their tracks and onto an elevated section of the New Jersey Turnpike in Carteret.

He said the PATH trains connecting northern New Jersey with Manhattan would be out of service for at least seven to 10 days because of flooding at stations in Jersey City and Hoboken.

All the New Jersey Transit rail lines were damaged, he said. Bridges were battered and, he said, tracks on the North Jersey Coast Line were washed out. It was not clear when the rail lines would be able to open.

Amtrak's Northeast corrider Line remained closed as crews worked to clear tracks.

Here's a photo of the LIRR West Side Yard flooding (the yard is only a few hundred yards from Penn Station):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtaphotos/ ... otostream/

The MTA has a pretty good photo stream on Flickr (just google MTA Flickr).

Which tunnels are the new flood doors on?
Were both the East and North River tunnels flooded?

Andy

twropr wrote:Which tunnels are the new flood doors on?
Were both the East and North River tunnels flooded?

Andy

They all have doors and both lines are flooded among other things. Wouldn't be surprised if you saw trains originating at Newark.

Service to Harrisburg will be restored on 10/31.

ThirdRail7 wrote:

twropr wrote:Which tunnels are the new flood doors on?
Were both the East and North River tunnels flooded?

Andy

They all have doors and both lines are flooded among other things. Wouldn't be surprised if you saw trains originating at Newark.

That is in fact what the Amtrak tweets are saying tonight.

Per Amtrak's Website:

"Amtrak will provide modified Northeast Regional service between Newark, N.J., and points south, on Wednesday, October 31, including restoring Virginia service to Lynchburg, Richmond and Newport News. Amtrak will also operate Keystone Service trains between Harrisburg, Penn., and Philadelphia, and modified Downeaster servicetrains between Boston and Portland, Maine, along with some overnight services to and from the Northeast.

However, as in the case of other tunnel owners and operators in New York City, Amtrak is removing water and making repairs to track, signal and power systems within its tunnels under the Hudson and East rivers. The amount of water intrusion into the tunnels is unprecedented – as was the storm itself – so a date for restoration of Amtrak service directly to/from New York Penn Station from either the north or south is not available at this time.

Therefore, there will be no Northeast Regional service between Newark and Boston and no Acela Express service for the length of the Northeast Corridor on Wednesday, October 31. Also, at Newark Penn Station, there will be no connecting service to New York City and no elevator or escalator service. Service to the Newark Liberty Airport rail station is suspended due to a lack of connecting services.

Also canceled on Wednesday, October 31, is the Empire Service between New York City and Buffalo/Niagara Falls, the Adirondack to and from Montreal, Québec, Canada, and the Ethan Allen Express to and from Rutland, Vt., due to track damage south of Albany-Rensselaer, N.Y.

Other service plans, full and partial service, for Wednesday, October 31:
Crescent (Trains 19 & 20) will operate only between Washington D.C. and New Orleans
Cardinal (Train 51) will operate only between Indianapolis and Chicago
Auto Train (Train 52) will operate as schedule as scheduled between Sanford, Fla., and Lorton, Va.
Maple Leaf (Trains 63 & 64) will operate only between Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Albany-Rensselaer
Carolinian (Trains 79 & 80) will operate only between Philadelphia and Charlotte
Silver Star (Trains 91 & 92) will only operate between Miami and Jacksonville, Fla.
Silver Meteor (Trains 97 & 98) will operate between Washington D.C. and Miami
Lake Shore Limited (Trains 448 & 449) will operate normally between Chicago and Boston, with no (Trains 48 & 49) service to points south of Albany-Rensselaer.
The following trains are also canceled for Wednesday, October 31:
Shuttle trains, Springfield, Mass.-New Haven, Conn.
Capitol Limited (Trains 29 & 30), Chicago-Washington, D.C.
Pennsylvanian (Trains 42 & 43), Pittsburgh-New York City
Auto Train (Train 53), Lorton, Va.-Sanford, Fla.
Vermonter (Trains 55 & 56), St. Albans, Vt.-Washington, D.C.
Palmetto (Trains 89 & 90), New York-Savannah
Customers are encouraged to monitor Amtrak.com/alerts and those Northeast Corridor passengers on Acela Express, Northeast Regional or Keystone Service trains can follow @AmtrakNEC on Twitter to be notified when updates are posted on Amtrak.com. Amtrak will also be providing updates on its Facebook.com/Amtrak and Twitter.com/Amtrak pages.

Amtrak will update this statement by Wednesday evening, October 31.
Passengers who have paid but choose not to travel due to this service disruption can receive a refund or a voucher for future travel. Some tickets booked online that have not yet been printed can be modified or canceled on Amtrak.com or by using the free Amtrak mobile app.
To be notified of major service disruptions resulting in delays of 60 minutes or more to multiple trains on the Northeast Corridor, follow @AmtrakNEC on Twitter.
Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. This information is correct as of the above time and date. Information is subject to change as conditions warrant. Passengers are encouraged to call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com/alerts for Service Alerts and Passenger Notices. Schedule information and train status updates are available at the Amtrak.com home page."
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So, to summarize--the tunnels are flooded into NYC. That is why they're not open, and given the scale of the flooding and overall damage, expect things to take quite awhile to get back online. This is a historic system. Based on this, its not going to be "days", its going to be weeks to months. Meanwhile, NJ Transit reports their headquarters is (verbatim) "underwater", and incredibly damaged. It would also seem (and this is just my positing however I digress), that this would likely end up resulting in a delay in the eventual upgrade of the corridor for higher speeds. Resources will need to be devoted simply towards restoring service, including the disaster for New York Penn Station etc... rather than upgrading the line from 135 to 160 or 150 to 160, depending on whether we're talking about NJ or MA/RI.
~SSD

Well. It had to happen some time. Im just glad they shut down enough in advance. I hope it doesn't take too long to get back in service along with the rest of the hard hit city. No PATH, NCS, or any service to hoboken or nyc means service to Newark is largely symbolic. NYC is a mess, as is Hoboken & JC.

As hard hitting as Sandy was... I think we dodged a bullet. It was only a cat 1 storm. Imagine if it had come ashore as a cat 5?

http://news.yahoo.com/train-services-re ... 46634.html
Amtrak said it would provide modified Northeast regional services south from Newark in New Jersey from Wednesday. Routes would include a Virginia service, trains between Harrisburg and Philadelphia, and services between Boston, Portland and Maine.
There will still be no service between New York and Boston and no Acela Express service for the length of the Northeast Corridor.
Amtrak said that, along with other tunnel owners and operators in New York City, it was still removing water and repairing track, signal and power systems within its tunnels under the Hudson and East Rivers surrounding Manhattan.

Amtrak used a hurricane to end Sunset Limited services east of New Orleans, wondering whether they're planning the same for NYC? <joke>

Jersey_Mike wrote:Acela Express - All trains cancelled

NEC Regional - SPG Shuttles running; No service NY & BOS/SPG; Virginia Regionals terminating/originating at Philly.
Acela Express trainsets used for NWK Regionals.

I was wondering how on earth Amtrak was planning to turn trains at Newark. Using the Acelas is a good temporary solution to that problem (and also speaks eloquently to how much ridership Amtrak expects to lose without NYP out, New York City crippled, and the entire north end cut off).

Odd that the SPG Shuttles are running without connecting to anything (Metro North isn't running New Haven service either), but I like that Amtrak isn't hosing the local ridership. Is there any word on damage east of NHV, that would preclude an early restoration of NHV-BOS stub service?

Springfield Shuttle trains are very popular with the NHV-Hartford-SPG commuter crowd. It's why CDoT is looking to run a real service on that line.

It's also good that Amtrak is running a reasonable amount of service Philly to DC with the VA Regionals.

The front page at mta.info now describes LIRR's damage as including flooding in two East River tunnels. Amtrak and NJT are being tight-lipped about what, precisely, has happened in the North River tunnels and Penn Station, but Amtrak's "removing water" and "no timetable" point to substantial flooding.

I disagree that this was a bullet dodged so much as a bullet to the kneecap. Sandy had a lot of cyclonic energy when she hit, but was organized in such a way as to deliver category 1 winds over a 500-mile swath instead of category 3 winds in a narrower track. The acceleration as is came ashore meant the peak of storm surge corresponded with low tide in Atlantic City, and with high tide in New York Harbor. I think most of us will see anther comparable storm in our lifetimes.

I am pleased with Amtrak's creative thinking. I was originally booked this morning on the 6:28 am Acela Express from Metropark to Washington DC (a re-book of my Sunday evening reservation). I was suprised when I read the message and saw that Amtrak would be providing limited service to Newark Penn, I was contimplating too how Amtrak would turn trains at Newark. I was suprised when I saw "Acela Express" 185 pull into Metropark this morning (JK - I know it is a Regional). I am gald to see Amtrak get a limited but necessary service up an running.

The electricity and heat are nice too. It was a dark cold morning in New Jersey