Metro-North had a terrible 2013, and it’s not doing a good job of rebuilding confidence in the new year. Trains were stopped system-wide for about two hours on Thursday evening after the main rail-control center at Grand Central Terminal lost electricity, according to the MTA. At 7:45 p.m. trains were ordered to stop at the next station, or before passing through an interlocking, where trains could crash with no signals. On trains that reached a station, passengers were eventually allowed to get off. “After about 20 to 25 minutes, they made an announcement that we were supposed to sort of fend for ourselves and find other forms of transportation to head for our destination,” passenger John Perugini told CBS New York.
Others were stuck on the tracks – fortunately all cars had heat and power – and Grand Central was crowded with stranded riders. Power was restored shortly before 10 p.m and trains started running again, with lengthy delays.
Just last night, about 200 passengers were stuck in an unheated train in Connecticut for two hours, so on the bright side, Metro-North didn’t lose much time when it rolled back the “hours without an embarrassing incident” sign to zero.
