Post-Sandy Repairs To NYC Subway Will Cause Years Of Disruption

(New York, NY – WNYC) Expect delays. That’s the message from the NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority as it readies to spend $2 billion in federal relief aid to make more thorough repairs to the subway after Sandy.

Flooding from the storm coated thousands of electrical components in parts of the system with corrosive salt water. The MTA says riders can expect more frequent interruptions of service as those switches, signals, and other parts are replaced.

Immediately after Sandy, the NY MTA scrambled to get the subway up and running, sometimes with components that were damaged by flooding but hastily cleaned and pressed back into service. Much of that equipment is functioning with a lowered life span, and will now begin to be replaced.

That means a lot of repair work will be happening in the subways over roughly the next two years. MTA executive director Tom Prendergast says the work will cause more line shutdowns, called “outages.” ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://transportationnation.org/2013/03/12/sandy-repairs-to-nyc-subway-will-cause-years-of-disruption/