Track Fire Causes Chaos
The start of a new work week was not routine for thousands of NYC Subway riders during the morning rush on Monday. A track fire in the tunnels between 145th & 135th Street caused chaos & massive delays for riders on the 
, 
, 
& 
as service was forced to be suspended. Things were just as bad as thousands flocked to the 
which caused chaos as well. Here is more via a Daily News report:
Thirty feet of train track trash caused the latest city subway disaster: a smoky blaze that trapped hundreds of panicked commuters on airless trains, kept thousands more stuffed in sweltering stations and forced the MTA to admit it must clean up its mess.
A pile of “extensive debris” in a tunnel along the subway tracks between 145th and 135th Sts. in Harlem caused the Monday morning chaos, sources told the Daily News.
Sparks ignited the fire that created the “smoke condition” a B train operator reported as he moved south at 7:18 a.m.
Moments later, NYC Transit’s rail control ordered trains between 145th and 135 Sts. to turn off their air conditioning — which would suck the smoke into cars — and the A, B, C and D lines in Harlem ground to a halt.
By the time service was restored at 9:34 a.m., nine straphangers were at local hospitals suffering minor injuries — and MTA Chairman & CEO Joe Lhota found himself trying to pacify frustrated commuters. Again.
Click here for the complete report.
I spoke to numerous people throughout the day who shared their horrible commuting experiences having to deal with the chaos resulting from the track fire. As one would expect, all of them pointed the blame at the MTA for a lack of upkeep.
However I pointed out that the finger should not solely be pointed at the agency if at all. While they could do more to deal with upkeep, the one fact remains constant & that is if passengers did not throw their trash on the track, we would not be having track fires caused by debris.
In reality this fire is just a microcosm of a transit infrastructure that is slowly falling apart before our very eyes.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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