NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – The MTA announced they are suspending service for outdoor trains beginning at 2 p.m. on Monday as conditions continue to deteriorate.
"Underground service will continue but we could stop that if we have to...but there are no plans for that at this time," MTA President Sarah Feinberg said during a briefing.
MTA Chairman and CEO Pat Foye announced that the last Metro-North trains to and from Grand Central will leave at around 3 p.m.
The last LIRR trains to and from Penn Station and Atlantic Terminal will leave between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m, officials added.
The first nor'easter of 2021 is now projected to nearly to 2 feet of snow to New York City and surrounding areas lasting into Tuesday.
The department of sanitation continued their work with salt spreaders and snow plows overnight into Monday.
The MTA restricted non-essential travel and began to move towards local-only subway service as blizzard-like conditions are expected.
The LIRR urged people that did not need to travel to stay home as it experienced systemwide delays due to winter weather conditions.
At a press conference Sunday, MTA officials urged people to stay home unless absolutely necessary for essential travel. They warned that this is an unpredictable storm that they'll be monitoring hour by hour.
All New Jersey Transit buses, rail (except ACRL), light rail, and Access Link service are suspended systemwide for the entire service day.
On the subways, equipment will be sent out to de-ice tracks and third rails. Snow throwers will be operating Monday and jetblowers will be deployed at subway yards.
MTA
Officials said subway service may need to be curtailed in areas seeing more snow. Express service may be reduced as trains are moved from yards to express tracks for storage.
Officials also said they were looking to reduce some bus service so that all of the agency's 60-foot articulated buses could be taken off the road. Some 3,000 buses have been chained for the storm.
In addition, 35 snowfighters and dozens of tow trucks will also be deployed in and around the city to work with the Department of Sanitation.
Paratransit Access-A-Ride service will continue. Vehicles will be equipped with snow chains and all-weather tires.
Service changes will not be made to Metro-North service, as it's already at about 64% pre-COVID levels. However, the last trains in and out of Grand Central will be around midnight Monday, so some service will be curtailed, officials said.
Long Island Rail Road will go to weekend service in order to ensure service is predictable.
Starting at 6 a.m. Monday, there will be a soft ban on empty tractor trailers and tandem vehicles on bridges because of wind conditions.
Over 150 pieces of machinery will be deployed to de-ice and plow roads and tunnels, officials said.
All bus service in and out of Port Authority Bus Terminal will be suspended on Monday, officials said.
NY Waterway said all routes would be closed Monday.
MTA Bridges and Tunnels
Across New York state, some 1,625 snowplows are being deployed along with other snow-removal machinery. The state will also be deploying dozens of snow plow operators and other equipment from other regions to the Mid-Hudson, Southern Tier and Long Island regions to assist with snow removal operations. More information can be found here.
Short and long tandems will be banned on portions of the New York State Thruway effective Monday at 5 a.m. Trailer bans are also being implemented on roadways outside of the Thruway system. Beginning 5 a.m. Monday, empty trailers and tandem trailers will be banned on I-84 from Pennsylvania state line to Connecticut state line, on Route 17 East of Binghamton to the New Jersey state line, and on the entire length of I-684.
In New Jersey, the Department of Transportation issued a commercial vehicle restriction on multiple interstate highways beginning at 12 p.m. on Sunday. More information can be found here.
NJ Transit will temporarily suspend all buses, rail, light rail and Access Link service for the entire service day on Monday except the Atlantic City Rail Line, which will operate on a regular weekday schedule.
