Crews work to repair Metro-North, Amtrak lines after Westchester County mudslide
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Crews spent the weekend working to repair Metro-North and Amtrak train tracks after they were damaged by a mudslide in Westchester County.
Service was temporarily suspended throughout the weekend. Crews spent 43 hours working to allow service to resume between Tarrytown and Croton-Harmon in time for the work week.
Amtrak service has been mostly restored between Albany and New York after a temporary suspension.
During Saturday's heavy rain, a chunk of the hill along the Hudson Line gave way causing a mudslide that literally stopped all trains in their tracks in Briarcliff Manor.
"Hundreds of thousands of commuters will be able to use Metro-North to commute to work Monday morning because of this extraordinary effort. Before heading out the door, New Yorkers should check the MTA website for up-to-date service information to ensure their commute is as seamless as possible," Governor Hochul said.
Two of four tracks remain out of service, so railroad schedules will be adjusted Monday to reduce congestion-related delays. For example, the railroad will cancel four of the 158 trains that operate daily. During peak hours, trains that operate in the reverse-peak direction will operate express between Tarrytown and Croton-Harmon.
Since the mudslide was first reported at 9:45 a.m. Saturday, crews successfully cleared 350 cubic yards of soil and debris and 250 cubic yards of rock and cement from two of the four tracks.
Additionally, crews continue to break apart the rock walls in an attempt to stabilize the slope where the mudslide occurred. They are also repositioning other segments to stabilize the coastline along the rail line.
Saturday into Sunday, mud and debris blocked all four tracks along a roughly eight-mile stretch and trains were unable to get through.
Through Sunday night and into Monday morning, crews will rebuild 140 feet of third rail that was crushed by the mudslide to ensure the two operable tracks are safe for service.
Work is expected to continue for days, as the mud and debris from the remaining two tracks need to be removed.
In place of rail service, temporary shuttle buses were utilized this weekend.
"I want to applaud the Metro-North workforce for their quick work recovering from this storm and helping to ensure hundreds of customers could continue their travels via a temporary shuttle bus. When duty calls, the Metro-North team springs into action and goes full-bore until the job is finished," said MTA Metro-North Railroad President Catherine Rinaldi.
The fallout from the mudslide caused confusion for weekend riders.
"(It's) very confusing... no one really knows anything. I asked the bus driver, 'Are we going to Cold Spring?' He said, 'Cold Spring? Where is that?'" said one rider.
The debris from Saturday's inclement weather also caused Amtrak to temporarily suspend service between Albany (ALB) and New York (NYP) for the remainder of the day.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a statement Saturday on the matter, ensuring New Yorkers that getting service back on track is top priority.
"At this point, our top priority is to restore service as quickly as possible and we are deeply grateful to the hard-working MTA personnel and emergency responders who are working to keep commuters, motorists and all New Yorkers safe," she shared.
Gov. Hochul also noted that there were no reports of individuals injured or stranded in the impacted areas.
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