Officials: Traffic Not as Bad as Expected, Ask for Continued Cooperation

Despite predictions of an "extremely challenging" commute Monday morning in the wake of Friday's train derailment and collision, Fairfield officials said commuter traffic was not as bad as anticipated.  

"We prepared for the largest contingency of people, but we saw the least amount of commuters this morning," Police Chief Gary MacNamara said.  

Because only a fraction of the usual population of commuters used the busing system this morning, he doesn't believe Monday's evening commute will be too problematic. 

"That doesn't mean we're not planning for a large crowd of commuters Tuesday and Wednesday," MacNamara added.  

Both he and First Selectman Michael Tetreau thanked commuters for their cooperating and creativity in finding alternative methods to taking the train to work Monday morning, and asked that they continue to do so for the next several days.  

"Whatever folks did today, we hope they do tomorrow," Tetreau said. "This is a five-day event we have to plan for."  

He stressed the need for cooperation throughout the week.  

"We cannot handle the volume" of the usual number of commuters, Tetreau said. The Metropolitan Transit Authority had previously stated it does not have the number of buses to meet the demands of all New Haven Line customers whose service was disrupted this week.  

"We're out of power until the rails are fixed," he added, referring to the overhead catenary system that powers the trains. "They [MTA and Metro-North] cleared the tracks and need to rebuild the tracks, restore power, and restore the signals to start service."  

The busing system put in place by the Connecticut Department of Transportation "worked pretty effectively," MacNamara said.

Buses picked up commuters at the Fairfield Metro station every 20 minutes and traveled via side roads to pick up people from the Fairfield Center station. They were bused to Westport for limited train service.  

There is no rail or bus service at Southport station throughout the disturbance, but those with Southport station parking permits may park at the Fairfield Center station.  

Gov. Dannel Malloy is expected to provide an update on repairs and rail service at 6 p.m. Monday.