Service on the entire 7 line has been suspended due to an icy rail, leaving some passengers stranded for hours. Around 9 AM, the MTA halted service between 42nd Street and Flushing-Main Street after a Manhattan-bound train stalled near Queensboro Plaza, losing power.
Transit Alert: '7' train suspended both ways Flushing-Main St to Times Square due to ice on the third rail at Queensboro Plaza
— Jamie Stelter (@JamieStelter) February 2, 2015
DNAinfo reports that “most trains that were out on the line have been brought back to stations so that riders could evacuate,” but four express trains are still stranded (the AP reports that five trains were behind it). Crews have been dispatched to those trains. Meanwhile, riders have taken to social media to report claustrophobic conditions and ask for help:
@ABC7NYNewsDesk we are stuck right before the queensboro station. 40+ mins. #MTA does not know how to evacuate or have plan. Pls help.
— JPo (@JPoNYC) February 2, 2015
@ABC7NYNewsDesk pic.twitter.com/jKyEwzOjiT
— JPo (@JPoNYC) February 2, 2015
@ElarAlpaca @ABC absolutely. Here another with workers trying to chisel the train out? T pic.twitter.com/ocRL5dEgPM
— JPo (@JPoNYC) February 2, 2015
It will be a survival tale for the ages.
Hey @ggreenwald the AP and NY Daily News are asking me for interviews but I offered this to you first and I'm a man of my word
— Connor Ratliff (@connorratliff) February 2, 2015
Update: NBC reports that the trains were sent back to Woodside station, where passengers were let off. The train that lost power was “towed by another train to Queensboro Plaza around 11:30 a.m.” The MTA has not said when service will resume.
(Photo: @christlu)
