NY: MTA Had Plan to Keep Subways Running Despite Heavy Snow

The MTA has a winter playbook it turns to when it comes to snowstorms, detailing just how much service it can safely provide. And speaking at a lunchtime press conference on Monday, as what looked like a blizzard bore down on the East Coast, the agency's chief said it was time to put one piece of it into action.

"We're going to put a Plan V in effect," MTA Chairman and CEO Tom Prendergast said, "which occurs when we have a storm of this magnitude."

Plan V is meant to prevent debacles like the December 2010 storm which blanketed the city in 20 inches of snow. During that storm, hundreds of buses were left spinning their wheels on unplowed city streets. Worse still, some 40 subway trains were stuck — including an A train near JFK Airport in Queens, which stranded hundreds of passengers for nearly ten hours without food, water, or heat. Some of them later sued the MTA, and the agency vowed to up its snow game. So it revised and expanded its winter operations plan.

According to that 360-page document, a copy of which was obtained by WNYC, Plan V governs operations during a declared snow emergency. To protect the fleet, subway cars are to be stored on underground express tracks, reducing service. Some lines which duplicate service, like the B or the Z trains, may be suspended. Lines that run outdoors — such as the N or the A lines in Brooklyn and Queens -- may run less frequently. The plan also details specific crew actions, and even talks about where to position diesel trains in the event that a regular subway car gets stuck in the snow. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.wnyc.org/story/anatomy-mta-shutdown/