NY MTA: No Timetable for Restoration of Subway Service

[marmar]

MTA chair Joe Lhota spoke to WNYC’s Soterios Johnson Monday morning about the extent of the damage to the subway system. Listen to the interview below, and read the partial transcript of his remarks.

Lhota said he knew last night there was a problem. “Last night I was downtown and it was pretty obvious…I saw the water surge coming up, realizing that the systems were going to be affected. Our electrical systems, our alarm systems, tell us when there’s water down there. They basically shut off. It’s an automatic system…they would only shut off if there was water down there.”

Johnson asked Lhota just how bad the flooding was. “The assessment is ongoing. Dawn is just cracking right now,” Lhota said, adding that the sunlight would help with the assessment process, “which is going to be ongoing. We’ll report back to New Yorkers later in the day as to what we have assessed, and determine how long it’s going to take to get the system back up and running. One thing I do want everyone to focus on is the fact of how dynamic and how robust the New York City subway system is.” And New Yorkers need to understand: “We’re going to be flexible, we’re going to try to be creative. Those systems that can be up and running, those portions of the system that can be up and running — I want them up and running as quickly as possible. Then use our bus service and our buses — re-route them in such a way that they supplement and complement each other. And that’s what I mean by creativity: if there’s a portion of the system that’s going to take longer to repair, that doesn’t mean the whole system is down…we’re New Yorkers, we adapt very very well.” .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://transportationnation.org/2012/10/30/breaking-ny-mta-no-timetable-for-restoration-of-subway-service/