Buses Substitute for Trains: Metro-North To Make Harlem Line Improvements July 20-24

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Metro-North Railroad will be doing work in two places on the Harlem Line between Thursday and Sunday. Buses will substitute for select trains between specific stations. The disruption will occur will between the Southeast and Wassaic stations and between Tremont and Melrose.

Work north of Southeast will start first.

Metro-North crews will perform critical work on the Upper Harlem Line July 20 - 23. Extensive improvements to the Line include renewing the River Road grade crossing in Pawling and replacing the crossing surface, rails and ties. Crews will also remove and rebuild masonry at a culvert north of the Appalachian Trail station; this work will improve drainage in the area to reduce the risk of flooding. Elsewhere along the tracks, crews will cut brush and weld rail joints.

To accommodate this track work, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 20, buses will substitute for select trains in each direction between Southeast and Wassaic on the Harlem Line. Buses will operate 15 – 30 minutes earlier than scheduled trains. After 10 p.m. on Friday, July 21, buses will replace trains at all stations between Wassaic and Southeast. Normal train service will resume with the first scheduled trains of Monday, July 24.

Service details are below:

Southbound: Thursday, July 20
From 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., buses will substitute for four trains that normally depart from Wassaic at 10:28 a.m., 12:28 p.m., 2:18 p.m., and 4:18 p.m. to Southeast, making all scheduled stops at the following stations: Tenmile River, Dover Plains, Harlem Valley-Wingdale, Pawling and Patterson. Bus service will operate 15 – 30 minutes earlier than normally scheduled train times. Buses will connect with regularly scheduled trains at Southeast for continuing service to Grand Central Terminal.

Northbound: Thursday, July 20:
For the four trains to Wassaic that depart Grand Central Terminal at 7:53 a.m., 9:45 a.m., 11:47 a.m., and 1:47 p.m., buses will substitute for trains from Southeast to Wassaic, making all scheduled stops at the following stations: Patterson, Pawling, Harlem Valley-Wingdale, Dover Plains, Tenmile River and Wassaic. Customers should allow up to 30 minutes in additional travel time, depending on the destination station.

Southbound: Friday, July 21, Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23
Starting with the usual 11:28 p.m. departure from Wassaic on Friday, July 21, and for all departures on Saturday and Sunday, July 22-23, buses will replace trains from Wassaic to Southeast, making stops at the following stations: Tenmile River, Dover Plains, Harlem Valley-Wingdale, Pawling and Patterson. Bus service will operate 15 – 30 minutes earlier than normally scheduled train times.

Northbound: Friday, July 21, Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23
Starting with the 8:52 p.m. departure from Grand Central on Friday, July 21 and for all departures on Saturday and Sunday, July 22-23, trains from Grand Central to Southeast will connect with bus service at Southeast. Buses will make each train’s stops at: Patterson, Pawling, Harlem Valley-Wingdale, Dover Plains, Tenmile River and Wassaic. Customers should allow up to 30 minutes in additional travel time, depending on the destination station.

Work on the south end of the line will start July 22.

Also, Metro-North crews will perform critical work on the Bronx Drainage project, installing a series of drain pipes, inlets and connections to city sewers. The work will ensure the on-going reliability and safety of the Harlem and New Haven Lines, officials said.

The drainage facilities are installed both beneath and outside the tracks between Melrose and Tremont, which requires removing one of the tracks from service for this crucial work.

As a result of this infrastructure improvement work, northbound trains will not be able to stop at the Melrose platform between 6 a.m., Saturday, July 22, and 5 a.m., Monday, July 24. During this time, Metro-North will provide substitute buses from Melrose to Tremont, where passengers may board northbound trains to their Bronx, Westchester and Dutchess destinations. Buses will depart Melrose approximately 15 minutes earlier than scheduled trains. Regularly scheduled northbound train service will resume at Melrose at 5 a.m. on Monday, July 24.

To Melrose, Saturday, July 22 – Sunday, July 23
Customers traveling from Grand Central Terminal and Harlem-125th Street to Melrose will take the train to Tremont and then switch to a southbound train back to Melrose. The connecting train to Melrose will board on the “Inbound to Grand Central Terminal” platform at Tremont, requiring passengers to walk from the “Outbound to White Plains/Wassaic” platform, up to the street and to the staircase leading to the “Inbound to Grand Central Terminal” platform.

From Melrose, Saturday, July 22 – Sunday, July 23
Customers traveling from Melrose station to Westchester, Bronx or Dutchess stations will take a bus to the Tremont station for continuing northbound service. The buses will operate approximately 15 minutes earlier than scheduled trains.

Metro-North has many channels for all schedule information and service updates.

Email and text message service updates – Customers are urged to sign up to receive the alerts by visiting MyMTAAlerts.com. To avoid unwanted messages, a user can tailor the messages to the specific branch, and the specific times of day.

MTA.info – The rail tab of the “Service Status” box at the left side of www.MTA.info
is always the definitive source for the latest status for each branch, updated every minute. In addition, customers can visit www.mta.info/mnr to see special service notices in the upper center of the page.

@MetroNorth on Twitter – Twitter users can follow @MetroNorth to receive updates of a similar nature to the email and text alerts, shortened to fit Twitter’s format.

Metro-North Train Time app – Customers who use the Metro-North Train Time app will see up-to-the-minute status for each upcoming train at each station. The app is available via the Apple Store for iOS devices or Google Play Store for Android along with MTA eTix - Metro-North Railroad’s mobile ticketing app which allows customers to buy Metro-North tickets on their mobile device -- anytime, anywhere. As a caution, trains that start out their trips on time may experience delays en route.

The above communications channels can be accessed while at home or on the go. For customers who are located at stations, Metro-North will post the latest service updates on digital signs at station platforms and will make audio announcements over public address systems, and on-board announcements made by train crews.

For those who prefer the telephone, information is available from the Metro-North’s Customer Service Center by calling 511, the New York State Travel Information Line, and saying: “Metro-North Railroad.” For customers calling from Connecticut, the number is: 877-690-5114. Those who are deaf or hard of hearing can use their preferred service provider for the free 711 relay to reach Metro-North at 511.

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