Restoring 
Service in the Montague St. Tube
Click on thumbnails below to see larger images
Work continues to fully restore 
train service through to Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn
After days of operation, the pumps finally managed to draw down the millions of gallons of water that had surged in from New York Bay during Hurricane Sandy. In all, eight of the MTA's under river subway tunnels experienced significant flooding but none as severely as the Montague Tube, which had water from track to ceiling for a distance of nearly a mile.
The Montague Tube carries Line trains between Manhattan and Brooklyn and since service has been suspended between 34th Street and Jay Street-MetroTech, thousands of riders daily have been shifted over to the already crowded Lexington Avenue Line. Right now, trains from Queens travel only as far south as 34th Street with through service to Brooklyn expected by late December.
While workers are busy on the escalators, a significant task also lies ahead before trains can once again use the Montague Tube. More than 300 signal relays were damaged, along with the central instrument house, track switches, stop motors, wiring. Debris had been washed into the tube and the force of the inrushing water from the 14-foot surge that hit lower Manhattan was enough to bend metal.
Along with the Rockaway Line across Jamaica Bay and Broad Channel, lower Manhattan was the hardest hit in the system with South Ferry expected to be out for several months. MTA New York City Transit has come a long way and our workers should be proud of their accomplishments but it isn't surprising that no one will be completely satisfied until service is operating just as it did prior to Sandy's arrival.
- Google Translate
