Three days after the NYC subway transit was closed due to damage by hurricane Sandy, the MTA has restored 14 of the city's 23 lines- but only partially.
The fourteen lines that are restored are running from and till 34th Street Penn Station. No trains are running the 34th Street borderline. The lower half of Manhattan was greatly impacted by the storm.
Limited train services of the Long Island Rail Road have also resumed Thursday morning. Some trains will be running between Jamaica and Penn Station, other lines to Forest Hills, Woodside are also running on limited service schedule.
According to a CBS News report, most train lines for the LIRR will be restored by Friday. The services will running free of charge the whole Friday till midnight. Trains on the Ronkonkoma and Port Jefferson Lines are running on a special schedule, they can be found here.
MTA spokesperson Marjorie Anders told CBS, "We've started service but not all the tracks are in service, not all the switches are there...We still have a lot of ground work to do before there's any expansion of service."
Hurricane Sandy has left the New York City Subway system completely debilitated. Although, the bus services have resumed, all subway lines remain close leading to enormous traffic problems on the road.
In a news conference on Wednesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that limited service for the Long Island Rail Road and Metro North would resume at 2:00 pm that afternoon.
In the mean time, the MTA bus is coping with transporting the 4.3 million New Yorkers. According to the MTA, it might take up to four days to get the entire system up and running again. Water, which has flooded many train tunnels, are in the process of being drained out, after which only will the problem be assed and then rectified. "These are significant challenges," said Governor Cuomo as reported by the New York Times.
According to the Huffington Post, 14 of the city's 23 subway lines will be restored Thursday, however the service will only run till the 34th street. To travel below the 34th street border New Yorkers must revert to bus or taxi services.
According to a statement released by the MTA, the storm has flooded a few subway tunnels. The MTA says that in 108 years, the damages caused by hurricane Sandy were the worst yet.
According to Bloomberg Business, Metropolitan Transit Authority Chairman Joe Lhota said, "I can say unequivocally that the MTA last night faced a disaster as devastating as it has ever faced in its history," at a conference Tuesday.
At the same news conference, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the complete restoration of the New York metro transit system might take as many as three to four days at best.
The bus system in certain areas of the city has started up Tuesday. According to the Wall Street Journal, trains of 2, 3, 7 and F running on diesel pumps started running Tuesday as well.
Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told the Wall Street Journal, "There was flooding on the east end of the airport right now and possible damage to the north dike."
The report suggests that John F. Kennedy airport will open 7:00 am Wednesday morning.
The entire report from the MTA can be found here.
