Metro-North riders get credit for service disruption

Metro-North customers affected by the service disruption on the New Haven line will be reimbursed, the MTA decided Tuesday.

In an emergency meeting, the MTA board approved a credit for a new ticket, good through the end of March, for holders of monthly and weekly passes. The credit covers each week the New Haven line has a limited schedule due to a failure of a Con Edison power cable Sept. 25. The greatly reduced service has caused lengthy commutes and crowding on platforms and inside Metro-North cars.

"The offer of a credit is something very, very rarely done," MTA CEO and chair Thomas Prendergast said after the meeting. But "it's the magnitude and the duration of this" that warranted a customer credit.

The MTA expects that repairs to bring power to the affected Metro-North line will be finished by Oct. 7.Eligible Metro-North customers will get a credit toward the purchase of a new ticket for every week service disruption continues. The credit will cost $2 million per week and will impact the agency's operating budget, according to an MTA document.

Metro-North President Howard Permut told the MTA board that there will be an expanded service schedule Wednesday, bringing the New Haven line up to 65% of its normal schedule.

Granting Metro-North riders a credit prompted one MTA board member to again suggest using insurance or federal money to compensate MetroCard holders who were unable to use the transit system after Superstorm Sandy.

"There was considerable hardships placed on people who pay the regular, everyday fare," said Allen Cappelli, a board member from Staten Island. "There should be some acknowledgment of it."