Yesterday, service on Metro North's New Haven line was suspended, due to wire problems. The result? Thousands of people were stranded, the NY Times reports: "The problems, which began about 4:30 p.m., stranded thousands of people at stations in Connecticut and Westchester County and led to a chaotic scene at Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, where would-be passengers rushed from track to track in an effort to find seats on any New Haven-bound train."
Two trains apparently pulled down wires that supply electricity to the line: Metro North spokesman Dan Brucker said that one train's overhead arms pulled down lines west of Greenwich at 3:15 p.m.; then, about a half hour later, "another train on a separate track pulled down more wires, forcing the railroad to suspend all service." It's suspected that the heat caused the wires to droop. On board some trains, conditions got uncomfortable without any power. From the Stamford Advocate:
Josephine Sargeant, 52, of Greenwich, was on the 2:37 p.m. train out of Grand Central when her train lost power and stalled just shy of the Greenwich train station platform.
"I was up from my seat and ready to get off. That's when they told us the lines were down and it was going to be a while," Sargeant said.
Without air conditioning, Sargeant said the train started to get very hot and the toilets started to smell awful.
And when a train stopped outside of the Port Chester station, apparently one passenger jumped off and ran into the woods!
Around 7:30 p.m., Metro North was able to provide limited service on diesel trains. The issue also affected Amtrak riders: One Tweeted, "Metro North & Amtrak service disruption http://bit.ly/byAopN 2:30p Amtrak train stuck 2 hours, no AC or H2o, being towed back to NY."
