Crews to Clear Drains, Prepare Equipment, and Be Strategically Pre-Positioned to Respond Quickly to Any Instances of Flooding or Other Weather-Related Challenges
View Video of NYC Transit Storm Preparations
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The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today is updating customers on weather preparations being made ahead of forecasted severe storms with heavy rain and high winds for the New York metropolitan area from Thursday evening to Saturday morning.
MTA employees will be poised to respond to any weather-related issues, including removal of trees that may fall across tracks. The MTA reminds customers to avoid unnecessary travel, and stay alert for service updates by visiting new.mta.info, MTA and TrainTime apps, or the MTA’s social media feeds.
New York City Subway
NYC Transit’s focus during heavy rain events is to minimize impacts to service by responding and removing water quickly.
NYC Transit has a fleet of emergency response equipment including emergency trucks, deployable pumps, debris trains, and pump trains ready to deploy and respond to flooding conditions.
Field personnel inspect and clean drains and vents at flood-prone locations ahead of the storm, and personnel are staged at critical locations including stations and yards, ready to deploy and respond if flooding conditions develop.
New York City Buses
NYC Transit Department of Buses personnel will monitor routes for known flooding situations, and have detours prepared. Extra personnel will be on standby in the event of service disruptions or subway shutdowns.
All bus facilities will have roof drains checked and ensure they are clear of debris and any loose materials will be secured. Emergency generators are being checked and will be ready in the event of a power outage.
MTA Bridges and Tunnels
Bridges and Tunnels personnel are checking all flood-prone locations for debris and will continue to monitor throughout the storm. Personnel will also monitor wind conditions and implement appropriate traffic or speed restrictions, if necessary, based on conditions.
Due to heavy wind and rain in the forecast, it will implement a ban on empty tractor-trailers and tandem (piggyback, dual, triple, etc.) trucks on its bridges beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 9.
Based on the current forecast and the overall timing of this weather event, it is anticipated that this ban will be in place until 7:00 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10.
These times are subject to change. For real time updates on service changes, motorists can visit mta.info. Customers can sign up for real-time email and SMS alerts from MTA Bridges and Tunnels here.
Maintenance teams will be on standby throughout the storm to respond to any incidents or emergencies.
Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad
The MTA’s commuter railroads are pre-positioning crews and diesel locomotives to be in position to minimize service disruptions.
Additional personnel will be added this afternoon through the overnight hours to identify and quickly address possible track, signal, and power challenges caused by flooding, washouts, downed trees and other potential storm damage. Personnel will survey and clear drainage areas where necessary, fortify key locations, and look for trees requiring removal as well as any track structures requiring attention.
Railroad crews have equipment on hand to be able to respond quickly as conditions warrant – chainsaws for clearing downed trees, pumps in the event of flooded areas, and identifying locations and availability of supplies for replacing damaged utility poles and crossing gates.
The railroads have worked aggressively to proactively protect infrastructure, tackling poor drainage locations, improving vegetation management adjacent to tracks, and strengthening and replacing utility poles, among other actions.
Access-A-Ride
Access-A-Ride paratransit will continue to provide service and the Paratransit Command Center will monitor the storm to track and respond to any customer or day of service issues.
Customers may experience delays in travel times depending on storm impacts. Customers are encouraged to follow AAR and the MTA on social media for storm updates.