South Ferry Subway Station Opens In The Midst Of MTA Meltdown

LOWER MANHATTAN, NY — The South Ferry subway station re-opened Tuesday after it was devastated by Superstorm Sandy – but its return was overshadowed by yet another subway meltdown.

The downtown Manhattan subway station, where 1 trains stop, has been closed since 2012 when Superstorm Sandy flooded it with an estimated 14.5 million gallons of water. Five years and $340 million later, it is back in service, but its return was overshadowed by a train derailment that injured 17 people and forced multiple evacuations.

An A train derailed on Tuesday morning at 125th and St. Nicholas Avenue, sending delays spiraling throughout the transit network. (Want more local news? Subscribe here for free breaking news alerts, features, neighborhood updates and more from Patch.)

When the South Ferry station was flooded in 2012, it was just three years old, having replaced an older station located nearby. While the "new" station near the entrance to the Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal was closed, the MTA re-routed trains to the "old" South Ferry station.

The aging infrastructure mandated that anyone getting off at the stop, the 1 train's last, be in the first five cars of the trains. That rule will no longer apply in the new station.

Lead image via Craig Ruttle / Associated Press.