NEW YORK — The MTA brought two more subway lines back into service Friday morning, while New Jersey Transit and Amtrak trains started running to New York Penn Station, the agencies announced Friday morning. The Staten Island Ferry was also scheduled to resume operations at noon Friday.
"As we have said from the beginning, we will bring service back on a gradual basis as we are able to do so. The subway system will be a shifting landscape for some time to come," MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota said in a statement posted on the authority's website. "But we are making steady progress toward some level of normalcy."
MTA rail, bus and Access-A-Ride services will remain fare-free until midnight.
SUBWAYS
The 7 and M lines both started operating with modified service:
- M trains are running in two sections, one between Myrtle Avenue-Broadway and Metropolitan Avenue, the other between Parsons-Archer and 34th St-Herald Square. As with the MTA's other subway lines, there is no service in Manhattan south of 34th Street due to the ongoing power outage caused by Hurricane Sandy.
- 7 trains are operating between Main Street and 74 St-Broadway in both directions.
The G line and the Staten Island Railroad remain the only metro rail services still suspended. An MTA spokeswoman declined to estimate when those lines will be restored, or when trains will return to full service.
"Until full service is restored to all subway lines, customers should expect delays and crowding on trains," the agency said on its website. "If possible, customers should stagger their travel times."
METRO-NORTH
The Metro-North Harlem Line began providing full service between Grand Central Terminal and Southeast. It also launched close to regularly-scheduled service on the Harlem Line between Grand Central Terminal and Mount Kisco, and on the New Haven Line between Grand Central Terminal and Stamford.
LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD
The LIRR began offering limited hourly service for the Friday morning rush on the Port Jefferson Branch between Penn Station and Huntington, and on the Babylon Branch to Penn Station.
STATEN ISLAND FERRY
The Staten Island Ferry was scheduled to begin running at noon, the city's Department of Transportation announced Friday. The first ferry will depart the St. George terminal, followed by service every half-hour in both directions.
NEW JERSEY TRANSIT
NJ Transit trains, suspended since Hurricane Sandy first swept through the region, started rolling again Friday morning. Northeast Corridor trains are providing modified service between New York Penn Station and Trenton.
NJ Transit had also planned to initiate modified service on the North Jersey Coast, Main and Raritan Valley lines, spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said, but an early-morning power outage at the agency's rail operations center in Kearny, N.J., stalled all service on every line except the Northeast Corridor.
Snyder declined to estimate when service would be restored, but added, "We're just continuing to plug away. We're resilient, we're going to persevere, this is not going to stop us."
AMTRAK
Amtrak announced Thursday night that its Northeast Regional and Acela Express trains would resume traveling the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C., by way of New York Penn Station Friday morning.
Full or modified service was also restored Friday to Keyston, Crescent Pennsylvanian, Cardinal, Vermonter, Maple Leaf, Carolinian, Palmetto, Silver Star, Silver Meteor and Lake Shore Limited trains.
Riders should expect delays as repairs continue, Amtrak said.
The agency declined to estimate when its Empire Service, Adirondack and Ethan Allen Express trains would be restored.