An Explanation for This Morning's (Thurs., Jan. 31) Weather-Related Delays on the Harlem & New Haven Lines

To Our Harlem & New Haven Line Customers

The delays of 20 to 60 minutes that you experienced during your morning commute resulted from signal and power problems, as well as downed trees, caused by the severe weather that crossed our region early this morning. Our crews were immediately dispatched to several locations to make repairs and remove trees.

Harlem Line:

On the Upper Harlem Line, a loss of signal power occurred early this morning on the two-track area between Croton Falls and Southeast. Because of this we had to flag train traffic through the vicinity of Southeast, resulting in significant delays of 30 to 60 minutes.

These delays were further exacerbated by downed trees in several locations.

Also impacting our Harlem Line service was a 3rd rail fire at Crestwood. We had to de-energize three of four tracks between Bronxville and Hartsdale, allowing local fire departments to combat the fire.

Additionally, on the Wassaic Branch we provided substitute buses through the morning rush hour due to equipment and circuit problems.

New Haven Line:

Power problems and downed trees in our overhead wires in several locations resulted in New Haven Line delays and in busing on the New Canaan Branch.

In the area from Stamford to New Haven, trees fell across our overhead wire at four locations, bringing down catenary wire at one spot. Exacerbating the problem is a continual outage of one track between Green's Farm and Bridgeport for the Connecticut Dept. of Transportation's catenary replacement project, leaving us with three tracks in that area. As we worked to remove the trees and repair wire, we incurred delays of up to 20 minutes throughout our morning rush.

On the New Canaan Branch, we experienced a complete loss of power due to trees in the wire, forcing us to institute a temporary busing operation, although buses were also delayed due to hazardous road conditions caused by downed trees. Service was restored mid-morning.

We regret any inconvenience you may have experienced as a result of these severe weather-related problems and appreciate your cooperation