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The Source for Public Transportation News and Analysis June 14, 2013
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COVERAGE OF THE 2013 APTA RAIL CONFERENCE
Resilient Rail Agencies Cope with Hurricane Sandy
BY SUSAN BERLIN, Senior Editor

Representatives of four of the rail agencies hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy shared their experiences at the June 5 Closing General Session of the APTA Rail Conference in Philadelphia.

PATH: ‘Best of Times, Worst of Times’
According to Stephen Kingsberry, director/general manager, Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH), Jersey City, NJ, his system had been experiencing its best year ever—80 million passenger trips during the year, 98.6 percent on-time performance—when the superstorm struck the Northeast Oct. 28-29, 2012.

“The impact of Sandy on our system was twice as bad as [the terrorist attacks of] 9/11, absent the loss of life,” he said. “Many of us had never seen that kind of damage—ever.”

PATH stations inundated with water included Hoboken, a major transfer point to New Jersey Transit Corporation rail and bus service and ferries to New York City, and the World Trade Center Station site in Lower Manhattan. Kingsberry said much of the extensive flooding occurred when water breached station elevators, causing damage and corrosion to operating systems.

“We rescued 32 people on the night of the storm from PATH facilities, mostly by boat,” he said. “However, we had one facility we couldn’t reach for two days.” He explained that staff members at that building were unable to evacuate because of flooded streets, and that other PATH employees eventually brought them food.

With the help of the Army Corps of Engineers and the New York Fire Department, Kingsberry said, PATH was able to pump most of the water from its stations into the Hudson River. “We couldn’t have gotten the water out by ourselves; it would have taken months,” he added.

PATH restored its first service seven days after the storm hit and resumed full operations on Jan. 30. Restoration efforts are underway at Hoboken and Exchange Place. The new World Trade Center Station is scheduled to open in 2015.

NYC Transit: ‘Unprecedented’
Joseph Leader, acting senior vice president, subways, for MTA New York City Transit (NYC Transit), echoed Kingsberry’s remarks about the severity of the storm. “Sandy delivered an unprecedented 14-foot storm surge to New York City. We never saw anything like that before.”

He described the inundation of NYC Transit’s South Ferry subway station, which he called “one of the most beautiful stations we’ve had.” The storm surge overtook everything in its path, he explained, breaking down protective barriers and completely flooding two escalators.

At the other end of NYC Transit’s service area, the Rockaway branch sustained extensive damage, including track washouts and damage to communication cables. The tracks were underneath six to seven feet of water, according to Leader.

However, despite the damage, he said, NYC Transit restored most subway service within a week: The first service resumed within two days, 98 percent within nine days.

Leader explained that NYC Transit employees began preparing for the storm a week ahead with logistical planning and distribution of resources such as plywood and sandbags.

“True resiliency in the face of a challenge is not just about new technology,” Leader said. “It’s also about mindsets, culture, and continuous improvement.”

Metro-North: ‘Preparing for The Worst’
“Information and communications, both internal and external, are very important to ourselves and our stakeholders,” said John Kennard, director, MTA Metro-North Railroad. “We have to take care of system recovery and restoration as safely and as quickly as possible, and we have to do it reliably.”

In anticipation of the storm, Metro-North “began preparing for the worst,” Kennard said. He noted that the railroad had learned from its experiences with a serious snowstorm in 1996, when insufficient planning had left rolling stock vulnerable to snow and ice.

“This time, we were working with New York City officials, the MTA [Metropolitan Transportation Authority], and the governor’s office to shut down service in an orderly manner.”

To illustrate the storm’s power, Kennard showed a slide of a 38-foot boat lifted by the surge and dropped onto Metro-North tracks. As soon as the storm retreated, he said, the work crews immediately began digging out. The least damaged line, the Harlem Line, reopened first, and Metro-North returned to 97 percent on-time performance by Nov. 5. Repairs are ongoing, he added, “due to the insidious nature of salt water damage.”

LIRR: ‘Preparation Is Key’
“At MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), we take hurricanes very seriously,” said Kevin Tomlinson, chief engineer. “Preparation is the key.”

LIRR began making plans for the storm several days before it arrived, with more than 2,500 staff members taking part in the process. By the time the railroad shut down on Oct. 28, he said, employees had moved more than 340 pieces of rolling stock to higher ground and secured grade crossings from wind and rain by either removing or immobilizing gates.

“Our most important asset is Penn Station in Manhattan, which is below ground,” Tomlinson said. “We used a six-foot diameter rubber dam—filled with 32,000 gallons of water—to keep storm water from infiltrating the station.”

Immediately after Sandy passed, LIRR deployed more than 1,000 personnel to begin recovery efforts. Tomlinson reported damage to a signal hut and power equipment, as well as more than 600 downed trees, utility poles, and wires.

LIRR restored service between Penn Station and Jamaica within 24 hours and began operating limited service on four main branches within 72 hours. Temporary repairs are still being made, Tomlinson said.

APTA President & CEO Michael Melaniphy, moderator for the session, noted that Hurricane Sandy was the second most costly hurricane in U.S. history, causing nearly $75 billion in damage and at least 285 deaths.

He continued: “When the busy, congested Northeast Corridor was effectively without fully operational public transportation—even for a few days—the entire region was nearly paralyzed. Only when public transportation was ‘gone,’ if only for a few days, did the public fully realize just how vital it is to the Northeast Corridor.”

Bombardier Transportation sponsored the session.

Photo by Steve Barrett
Closing General Session participants, from left: Kevin Tomlinson, moderator Michael Melaniphy, Stephen Kingsberry, Joseph Leader, and John Kennard.

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