Metro-North Port Jervis Line severed

Metro-North Railroad’s three major lines east of the Hudson River on Tuesday were still struggling to resume full passenger rail service, but the railroad said 85% of its morning peak customers would be served as it operated the entire Hudson and New Haven lines and also the Lower Harlem Line to North White Plains. N.Y.

But west of the Hudson River, Metro-North’s Port Jervis Line has been severely damaged in many locations, with service resumption unlikely for months.

Much of the Port Jervis Line, which terminates in Hoboken, N.J., still remains under water, making full damage assessment difficult. But MTA photographs of the line north of the New York-New Jersey border (such as shown below) catalog at least three washouts of 1,000 feet or more near Sloatsburg, N.Y., damage to several rail bridges, and suspected damage to the signal system.

“Metro-North will retain an engineering firm to perform a thorough inspection of 24 miles of infrastructure to determine the full extent of necessary repairs and determine required environmental permitting,” the railroad said in a press release. “Major construction work would follow. It will take months to rebuild the track, signal and bridge infrastructure required to reinstitute train service, although the exact duration will be determined by the investigation.”

Metro-North, in coordination with Orange County, N.Y., has an alternate bus service plan for the 2,300 people who use the Port Jervis Line each weekday. Buses will roughly follow the train schedule. As road and station conditions improve in Orange County, Metro-North will seek to expand the bus options available. Metro-North customers also can use their Port Jervis Line commutation ticket on the Newburgh-Beacon Ferry, which resumes service Tuesday, or on the Newburgh-Beacon Bus, both of which cross the Hudson River for access to Metro-North’s Hudson Line.

Other lines east of the Hudson River still out of service Tuesday included the Upper Harlem Line, and the New Canaan, Danbury, and Waterbury branch lines in Connecticut.