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When It Rains, It Pours!

August 2021 Mileposts
A Newsletter for MTA Metro-North Railroad Customers
Storm Elsa M8 Bronx Flooding

As the old adage goes, “When it rains, it pours!”

Tropical Storm Elsa soaked our Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven lines with heavy rainfall that teed up a host of weather-related infrastructure challenges.

Thankfully, our crews proved up to the task.

From drowned switches and third-rail burners to sinkholes, washouts and mudslides, the high-rising waters from Elsa put our Track, Structures, Communications & Signals, and Power departments to the test. Hundreds of employees in the field and in offices teamed up to tackle the storm.

They repaired and replaced switch motors and catenary wires, remedied circuit issues, filled sinkholes, cleared mudslides, removed downed trees and debris, and pumped flooded areas to keep our train service going with minimal delays.