Metro-North Apologizes For Recent Service Disruptions

Metro-North on Tuesday apologized for recent disruptions to commuter service on the New Haven Line — including an where hundreds passengers became trapped in a temporarily disabled train in the sweltering heat near Greens Farms Station in Westport — as well as disruption to service Tuesday morning that resulted in delays of up to 40 minutes.

“On Friday afternoon, a number of trains were delayed when record-breaking temperatures caused wires in the New Haven Line's antiquated catenary system to sag in a number of locations between South Norwalk and New Haven,” the MTA states in its release. “Overloaded power systems also caused transformers and substations to shut down. As a result, trains were either blocked in or were disabled, causing significant delays on the entire line. While we responded to each location as quickly as possible, we continue to review our procedures both internally and with local emergency responders and will make any improvements that are necessary.”

The release states that Tuesday morning's delays of up to 40 minutes between New Haven and Stamford resulted from a work train that derailed west of Bridgeport around midnight.

“Our emergency crews arrived at the derailment within 20 minutes,” the release states. “A crane was immediately dispatched to re-rail the work train, and crews were dispatched to make repairs to the track. However, because of the extent of the damage and the location of the derailment, it was determined that we could not successfully re-rail the train and make repairs to the track without causing even more disruption and delay to your AM Peak.”

The release goes on to explain that, “of the four tracks in this area, two (between Southport and Bridgeport) have been out of service continuously for the catenary and bridge replacement project. Only one track remained in service in this area, a bottleneck that caused delays and required us to combine five trains causing some crowded conditions.

The train was re-railed and towed clear of the track at 10 a.m., the release states.

Repairs to the track were to be completed by tonight’s rush hour.

Meanwhile members of the Westport Fire Department are hoping to meet with MTA officials to address concerns about “miscommunications” during Friday’s disabled train incident.

At about 3:30 p.m., Friday, Westport Police started receiving distress calls from passengers onboard a temporarily disabled eastbound train, sitting in 100-plus degree temperatures on an inaccessible stretch of track near the Greens Farms Station.

“Initial reports described passengers experiencing multiple medical emergencies including several pregnant females in distress and a large number of people experiencing heat distress due to lack of air conditioning on the train which was ‘dead in the water,’” a report from Westport Fire Department Deputy Chief Jon Gottfried states.

Westport fire, police and EMS were dispatched however there was reportedly some “miscommunication” between Westport Fire and Police 911 dispatchers and the MTA dispatchers in determining the train’s exact location.

“In fact the MTA dispatchers contacted by the Westport Fire dispatcher indicated that the train was not carrying passengers,” the report states.

After Westport Fire, Police and EMS located the train approximately 3/4 of a mile east of the Sherwood Island Connector, near 16 Beachside Common Road, it suddenly started moving again, and eventually made it back to the Greens Farms station. There, emergency workers, including Westport and Fairfield EMS, gave passengers water and observed them for signs of heat exhaustion.

The communications problems, however, were serious enough that the Westport Fire Department feels it should meet with MTA officials “to discuss communications problems with MTA.”