The message at the Metro North Railroad station in Stamford that greeted riders on Thursday morning had a sadly familiar ring
We are experiencing technical difficulties. We appreciate your patience as we work to correct this issue.
The disruption began on Wednesday morning after a Con Edison feeder cable in Mount Vernon N.Y. failed snarling service on the New Haven line between Stamford and Grand Central Terminal.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut who has warned that delays could go on for weeks announced on Thursday morning that routine roadway maintenance would be suspended on major roadways including Interstate 95 to help alleviate congestion.
Needless to say I am frustrated at this situation and continue to press the folks at Con Ed and Metro North to fix it as quickly as possible Mr. Malloy said in statement. But until the problems are alleviated we need to take whatever steps we can to help mitigate congestion on roadways. Our state transportation crews have halted all routine road work in the area and are working to ensure that the expected increase in traffic moves safely and efficiently.
On weekdays Metro North s New Haven line records an average of about 130 000 passenger trips.
Many people seemed to heed the advice of public officials to work from home or commute from other stations. The parking garage at the Stamford station on Thursday morning was noticeably uncrowded.
For those who still were relying on the train exasperation was the feeling of the day.
The upsetting part is this is not the first thing this year said John Terzis an employee in the finance business who was waiting for the express train. They re finally replacing 40 year old train cars and it s obvious that five years of stimulus spending and money printing has not been put where it should have been.
Shortly before 9 a.m. about 100 commuters were milling around the station hoping to catch one of the diesel trains that are helping to fill in while the power is out.
Ticketsellers with little information to give took the brunt of people s anger.
As the crowds grew more restless a Metro North official in an orange vest standing among the crowd that said a diesel train would be running express to Manhattan at 9 10 a.m. followed by a local to Rye N.Y. two minutes later.
Years of neglect have taken their toll on the tracks Mr. Terzis said which you know if you ride the trains because of the way they rock. It s not like the Eurostar to Paris.
In May the derailment of a Metro North train near Fairfield Conn. injured scores of passengers and caused delays for days. In July a freight train using the Metro North tracks derailed once again causing substantial delays.
Another commuter Saurin Shah said that even when trains are running on time he leaves early but on Thursday he said that he was thinking it best to go a little later to avoid the crush.
We don t have much of a choice he said.
He said it would be helpful if public officials addressed the fact that people who are being advised to commute from other stations need a place to park once they get there.
I didn t know if I should drive to White Plains as officials advised he said since he did not know if there would be a place for his car.
Rachelle Tenace a saleswoman from West Palm Beach carrying suitcases full of European textiles was grateful to see that the long awaited express train was empty when it pulled up.
I don t know how people do it every day she said. She was returning from a business visit to Westport and hoping she would be on time for an 11 30 appointment in Manhattan.
As the train made its way into the city Tanya English shuddered at the prospect of the problems lasting weeks but said she would make do.
They re saying this is going to last two weeks she said. It s not a tragedy. It s an inconvenience.
Metro North has cobbled together a network of buses and diesel trains but the service will be slow infrequent fragmented and very crowded.
And it can accommodate only a third of the line s regular riders.
For those on the roads the lack of train service was also causing delays. Traffic reporters circling overhead in helicopters reported delays on all the major roads and highways into the city.
Service on Amtrak which shares the tracks with Metro North was also affected with delays throughout the Northeast and a suspension of Acela Express trains between New York City and Boston.
Matt Flegenheimer contributed reporting.
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