Passengers On A Major NYC Train Line May Get Refunds After 2 Weeks Of Severe Delays

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will consider giving credit to Metro-North customers whose trains have been severely delayed since a failed Con Edison feeder cable led to a loss of power.

The cable failed September 25, and Con Ed has since established temporary feeders in Harrison, New York, allowing Metro-North to operate trains at a 50% capacity on the affected New Haven line.

The line, which runs from Connecticut, through Westchester County, and into Manhattan, serves 125,000 people daily.

The MTA has also established shuttle bus service to transport commuters to stations on working lines.

Full service is expected to return October 7 or 8. But refunds for affected customers are not a given.

The MTA Board will have a special meeting Tuesday afternoon to "consider approving a credit for customers," it announced Monday. An MTA spokesperson said that it has not been decided yet if that would be a cash refund or a credit for future train tickets. That will likely be decided in the meeting.

The MTA has been steadfast in blaming the failure of the line on the energy company. The announcement about the meeting said the lack of service is due to "the failure of a Con Edison feeder cable." The spokesperson said delays will last "as long as it takes Con Edison to complete their task."

For its part, Con Ed promises to find the root cause of the problem. It said in a statement:

We will be conducting a thorough review of the cause of the feeder failure once restoration activities are completed. The review will include a thorough examination of the failed cable once it is removed from the pipe as part of the restoration process, and will focus on understanding how this incident occurred to avoid future such incidents.

We also plan to have extensive discussions with the MTA regarding contingency planning.