Upper Harlem Line Changes While Safety System Goes In

SOUTHEAST, NY — Metro-North Railroad crews will install Positive Train Control equipment between Wassaic and Southeast Oct. 17-21, which will result in temporary service changes on the upper Harlem Line. PTC is one of the safety upgrades Metro-North promised after a train going too fast on a curve derailed, killing four, in 2013.

Positive Train Control is a technology designed to reduce the potential for human error that can lead to train-involved accidents. In the 2013 crash, the engineer had fallen asleep. (Stay on top of Patch’s local coverage by subscribing to the Southeast-Brewster Patch newsletter.)

Crews will install two antenna poles and two radio boxes that are required in order to make Positive Train Control (PTC) operational on the branch. Metro-North will perform a fiber optic splice that allows this newly PTC installed equipment to communicate with the rest of the system.

In addition to making the safety upgrade, Metro-North crews will replace the highway grade crossing at Tenmile River Station on Sinpatch Road in the town of Wassaic. Elsewhere along the branch, crews will surface track, cut brush and trees, weld joints and renew drainage ditches.

To accommodate this safety upgrade and maintenance improvements to the Harlem Line, buses will substitute for trains traveling between Wassaic and Southeast from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Oct. 17-19.

Substitute bus service will be back in effect after 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 19, and continues through Oct. 21. Regular southbound train service resumes on Oct. 22 with the 5:10 a.m. train from Wassaic. Regular northbound train service resumes on Monday, Oct. 22 with the 7:40 a.m. train from Southeast.

Service details are below:

Weekday:
Southbound: Wednesday, October 17 through Friday, October 19
From 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., and from 10:30 pm until midnight, buses will substitute for trains from Wassaic to Southeast, making all scheduled stops at the following stations: Tenmile River, Dover Plains, Harlem Valley-Wingdale, Pawling and Patterson. Bus service will operate 20-40 minutes earlier than normally scheduled train times. Buses will connect with regularly scheduled trains at Southeast for continuing service to Grand Central Terminal.
Northbound: Wednesday, October 17 through Friday, October 19
From 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and from 10:30 pm until 2 am Saturday, 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.

Weekend:
Southbound: Saturday, October 20 and Sunday October 21
Substitute bus service will be provided for all trains departing Wassaic and the following station stops: Tenmile River, Dover Plains, Harlem Valley-Wingdale, Appalachian Trail, Pawling and Patterson.

At Southeast Station, customers will connect with continuing train service to Grand Central Terminal. Buses will operate up to 30 minutes earlier than normal train times.

Regular southbound train service resumes on Monday, October 22 with the 5:10 a.m. train from Wassaic.