The slow ride isn’t over yet.
Metro North’s crippled New Haven line will be at half its regular weekday commuter capacity for the Monday morning rush — better than last week’s power-outage nightmare but “still far less than the normal service our customers expect,” MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Prendergast said on Sunday.
The transit chief urged everyone to stay off New Haven line trains “during the busiest part of rush hour” or to take an alternate route. The sweetener for the second option is 8,600 free park-and-ride spaces —available starting at 4:30 a.m. — at four locations in Westchester and the Bronx. From there, commuters can either catch free shuttles to Metro North’s fully functional Harlem Line or board nearby MTA bus and subway stops.
Prendergast and MTA Metro-North Railroad President Howard Permut met with reporters on Sunday afternoon at one of the stopgap lots, Orchard Beach — where 5,000 spaces will open. He also responded to a call by U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for an investigation into a possible “cover up” of events surrounding Wednesday’s catastrophic failure of Con Edison cables that power several miles of New Haven-line track in Westchester.
“Everyone’s frustration level is exceptionally high,” said Prendergast, promising “to work very aggressively and very cooperatively with anyone doing an investigation … but I can tell you our focus is on service restoration and restoring the power.”
Besides Orchard Beach, the other free park-and-ride locations are Kensico Dam in Valhalla (600 spaces), Rye Playland (1,500 spaces), and the 153rd St. garage at Yankee Stadium (1,500 spaces).
The revised New Haven line schedule is available online. Commuters can also call 511, or 1-877-690-5114 from outside New York State,