7 a.m., wake up, survey my outdoor surroundings, think I’ve woken up on Mars.
7:15 a.m., tune in to Fox 5 and see traffic reporter say Metro-North service is suspended.
7:30 a.m., traffic reporter says some service has been restored.
7:35, check email for Metro-North service alerts. Surely something in light of the snurricane/snowicane/snowbeaster? Nothing.
8:25, head out for 8:43 train.
8:26, attempt to hop over three foot snow cliff at end of walkway and get snow in boot.
8:30, almost wipe out twice while walking down Broad. “It’s not worth it!” yells a middle-aged woman shoveling snow. There’s 15 inches down.
As I said yesterday, the only way to get any service updates from Metro-North is to get on their press distribution list. That list offered up this snurricane tidbit today: Ridership was down 60-65% this morning, with Hudson Line down 79%, Harlem 66%, and the New Haven Line down just 56%.
Those New Haven Line riders are battle-tested for sure.
8:43, no train. Dozen people in overpass.
8:55, a train approaches from the north. Everyone descends stairs. Train keeps going.
People talk on platform. Several mentions of downed tree between Hartsdale and White Plains and ensuing delays.
8:56, Dad calls from Florida vacay, where it’s 48 degrees. Tells me to go home. He’s not the boss of me…anymore.
Lots and lots and lots of platform announcements regarding northbound trains. Nothing about southbound.
9:17, train pulls up. Two dozen people board.
9:31, pulls into White Plains.
9:32, anxiety about downed tree and fear of bottleneck.
9:34, Hartsdale’s in the rear view mirror.
9:52, Harlem.
10:03, Grand Central. Train was 34 minutes late, but made the trip in 46 minutes once it arrived. Not bad.
you should go to http://www.mta.info and check/update your alert settings. by 7am i had gotten 4 metro-north alerts. i also sign up for all the MNRR branches so i can see what is going on elsewhere.
i do agree though, if i get 1 MNRR alert a week thats a lot.
meanwhile, the LIRR sends out hundreds in one week, lol. you should sign up for theirs (and have them sent into a special e-mail folder so it doesn’t clog your inbox).
good luck getting home.