The L Train Was Down This Morning, In Case You Hadn’t Heard
Remember last Wednesday night’s crazy hellish commute, courtesy of a manhole fire and some electrical signal troubles? This morning there was a reprise, only just for L train riders. Thanks to someone pulling an emergency brake (seriously, dudes, don’t do that unless there is an actual emergency), L train service was temporarily suspended this morning for a solid half hour, juuuuust at exactly the time everyone really needed the train to be on time to make it to work. Great.
And if you were like, no problem, I’ll just try to hail an Uber? LOL nope.
The struggle is real. RT @moneyries: L train is down and not a single @Uber to be had out here: pic.twitter.com/zYAKF2A50X
— Ryan Gorman (@GormoExJourno) December 15, 2014
Per an MTA spokesman, the delay was between 8:30 am and 9:00 am; L trains are now running again, albeit with delayed service. Once an emergency brake is pulled, the conductor has to go back and inspect every subway car to look for the potential 911, which, during a rush hour commute on the L train, was not a fast or easy process. Apparently the brake could either have been pulled by a passenger or tripped up by an obstacle on the tracks. Either way it was not a pleasant way to start the week.
"lol nice try, but I'll be over there listening to the new D'Angelo." —L Train this morning
— Zach Schonfeld (@zzzzaaaacccchhh) December 15, 2014
http://twitter.com/runwithskizzers/status/544497037455400960
http://twitter.com/stevekovach/status/544494719779479553
Maybe a good time to mention that the MTA is seeking $300 million from the federal government to upgrade the L train stations and increase capacity, since ridership on the line has increased a whopping 98 percent since 1998.