US Sen. Charles Schumer slammed the MTA on Tuesday over its “poor” communication with Metro-North riders last week while an emergency hobbled train service.
Schumer said the agency left hundreds of thousands of passengers “stranded without clear direction on how to get home.
“The bottom line is that Metro North’s emergency communication system was not up to snuff during last week’s emergency with nary an orange jacket to be found for thousands of nervous and stranded commuters — and that is just not good enough,” Schumer (D-NY) said. “Far too many commuters were frustrated and flummoxed by poor communication and left no guidance on alternate routes –- or even worse, no way to get home or to work.”
A four-alarm blaze underneath the Park Avenue Viaduct caused structural damage and took the agency three days to repair while some tracks were unusable. The fire caused hundreds of trains to be cancelled or delayed, and the agency moved to a lighter schedule during the repairs.
The senator demanded that the agency launch an investigation into what went wrong and take steps to fix communication with passengers.
MTA officials said they will take Schumer’s suggestions under consideration.
“We are always working to strengthen customer communication—in particular during periods of inconvenience,” said spokesman Aaron Donovan. “We received Senator Schumer’s letter today and we are reviewing it carefully.”