NYC subway chief: ‘Never faced a disaster as devastating’ as Sandy

By Keith Laing - 10/30/12 09:34 AM ET

The chairman of the authority that runs the New York City subway said Tuesday that the sprawling transit system experienced more damage during Hurricane Sandy than it had at any other point in its history.

“The New York City subway system is 108 years old, but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night,” New York Metropolitan Transit Authority Chairman Joseph Lhota said in a statement. “Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on our entire transportation system, in every borough and county of the region. It has brought down trees, ripped out power and inundated tunnels, rail yards and bus depots.”

Lhota said that during the worst of the storm Monday night, seven subway tunnels that run under New York’s East River flooded. He added that commuter rail lines to Long Island and New Haven, Conn., also sustained water damage.

“We are assessing the extent of the damage and beginning the process of recovery,” he said. “Our employees have shown remarkable dedication over the past few days, and I thank them on behalf of every New Yorker. In 108 years, our employees have never faced a challenge like the one that confronts us now. All of us at the MTA are committed to restoring the system as quickly as we can to help bring New York back to normal.”

The New York subway system is the busiest public transit network in the U.S., with more than 5 million riders daily. The system was shut down Sunday night in advance of the storm, and rumors spread Monday night that it might remain closed for a week because of the damage.

However, the MTA said on its Twitter account that the rumors were untrue because the transit agency “cannot assess damage until Tuesday. It is way too early for a subway reopening timetable.”

The MetroRail system in Washington, D.C., which is the second-most heavily used transit system in the U.S., also shut down Monday as Hurricane Sandy approached.

The agency that runs the Metro system, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), has not reported any damage to its railways yet.

The D.C. transit authority said Tuesday morning that it will reopen on a “limited” schedule at 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. The agency said it expects to have normal rush-hour service by Wednesday morning.

Transit systems in Boston and Philadelphia were also shut down Monday for Sandy. Officials in Boston said its T subway system would be back up and running by 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, while Philadelphia's Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) was still closed.