Hurricane Sandy

[morris&essex4ever]

Unfortunately, all the non-NEC lines have again lost their service for tomorrow, apparently due to a power failure at the ROC. Apparently they really need an alternate site for this thing.

So where is ROC, is that in Hoboken? What does it stand for?

So any idea if BCL has suffered any major damage/ For some reason, yesterday they planned to open Main line but not BCL.

Rail Operations Center at the MMC in Kearny.

[25Hz]

Well, at least they tried.

[acelaphillies]

Was the ACES equipment damaged by Hurricane Sandy at MMC? If so they probably wouldn't even bother to fix them now that the service has ended.

[Jeff Smith]

http://www.njtransit.com/sa/sa_servlet. ... iceId=2301

^NJ TRANSIT rail service on the North Jersey Coast Line, Raritan Valley Line and the Main Line is suspended due to a power failure at NJ TRANSIT’s rail operations center which controls the lines.




Northeast Corridor service between New York and Trenton is not effected and will operate from Trenton to New York on a special schedule .




NJ TRANSIT rail passes will be cross honored on NJ TRANSIT and buses.

Monthly Pass Extension:

NJ TRANSIT has extending the validity period for October monthly passes until Wednesday, November 7 for customer convenience.

[MariusP]

That NJT doesn't have a backup up way of running their trains is really inexcusable at this point.

[Jeff Smith]

^looks like a good beer in your avatar.

In any case, seriously? Have you not SEEN the news? The pictures? The devastation?

What branch or line are you talking about? Some are worse than others. The NEC is running.... can you be more specific as to which line or division should be running? Or where the alleged malfeasance ocurred? Your statement is a blanket indictment of the entire system.

[ccutler]

The issue is not the understandable devastation of the physical infrastructure. The issue is the lack of a disaster recovery facility for the dispatchers, computers and communications infrastructure that is storm-protected and on high ground. Many other trains are ready to run but for the lack of ability to dispatch them. Having dispatching located near a swampy estuary is asking for trouble.

[Jersey_Mike]

It would be better if NJT at least has some sort of contingency plan to be able to run trains even if dispatchers and local signal power were unavailable. The Form D has two lines, 6 and 7, to handle such a situation by substituting DSC rules and taking all the interlockings out of service. What you do then is couples together a number of 15 or so car trains and run a limited frequency service Newark Broad or Secaucas. Passengers would only be carried to the terminal stations and at intermediate points you only platform a few cars. When those cars fill up you open up the next ones, etc. You could also reduce the number of stops en route. The service would be extremely bare bones, but I'm sure you could fill the trains and it would be better than nothing. If TVM's are not working and/or stations are crowded you implement flat "bucket" cash fares of like $5 or $10.

[sixty-six]

It would be better if NJT at least has some sort of contingency plan to be able to run trains even if dispatchers and local signal power were unavailable. The Form D has two lines, 6 and 7, to handle such a situation by substituting DSC rules and taking all the interlockings out of service. What you do then is couples together a number of 15 or so car trains and run a limited frequency service Newark Broad or Secaucas. Passengers would only be carried to the terminal stations and at intermediate points you only platform a few cars. When those cars fill up you open up the next ones, etc. You could also reduce the number of stops en route. The service would be extremely bare bones, but I'm sure you could fill the trains and it would be better than nothing. If TVM's are not working and/or stations are crowded you implement flat "bucket" cash fares of like $5 or $10.

Thanks for telling us how to run a railroad, Mr. Railroad Employee!!!! If dispatchers were unavailable, like you say, who's going to issue the Form D's? Running over interlockings with no power requires the switches to be blocked and spiked, taking people away from repairing the hardest hit areas. You can't run push-pull service with 15 cars because the MU signal degrades after 12 cars. But hey, you obviously know more than those who work here, so thanks for coming in!

[quadrock]

Anyone know if the Rail Operations Center had power at one point and lost it again? Yesterday, they sent some alerts about the Main Line and Raritan Valley Line re-opening prematurely, only to cancel them with new alerts.

[lirr42]

I would presume they had power than lost it. NJTransit's website said that the ROC was under something like 8 feet of water, causing the backup generators to not work. So them getting line power back gave them the false hope that they could run NJCL/RVL/Main/ST service back together, but when power failed, they had to cancel all the service.

[amtrakowitz]

That NJT doesn't have a backup up way of running their trains is really inexcusable at this point.

Of course, because any other passenger railroad could start up operations in a "backup way" after an unprecedented storm. (FTR, this is sarcasm.)

The issue is not the understandable devastation of the physical infrastructure. The issue is the lack of a disaster recovery facility for the dispatchers, computers and communications infrastructure that is storm-protected and on high ground. Many other trains are ready to run but for the lack of ability to dispatch them. Having dispatching located near a swampy estuary is asking for trouble

"Unprecedented"? Armchair quarterbacking in the face of such an event = Fail.

[Jeff Smith]

The same was said about having an EOC in the WTC before 9/11. But having two op centers for a railroad could be expensive, and the other damage would negate any such advantage. But I could agree having an OC in a flood plain might be bad.

[CentralValleyRail]

Does anyone know what that Main Line Peak Schedule was like or have the PDF link that it was on?

I'm curious to see how they had service running?

[acelaphillies]

MMC:


(Photos credit: NJ Transit Flick)

Yikes! Those scenes of MMC don't look good.

Did NJT anticipate flooding at MMC and move equipment out or was MMC full like normal? What percentage of the equipment at MMC was damaged? Going along with that, roughly what percentage of NJT equipment was damaged as a whole?

MMC flooding is really a double whammy. I remember last year when SEPTA equipment flooded at Trenton they pulled it to their shops and it took a few months for them to get that equipment back in service. With MMC flooded it causes a lot of additional locos and rolling stock to be in need of repair (on top of everything that was there for repair in the first place), but it also puts the main maintenance complex where these repairs would take place in need of repair. So first, they need to get MMC working again so then they can start working on the equipment. Unfortunately, NJT really has its work cut out for them.