MTA buses running again after Hurricane Sandy slams NYC 

 

Buses began running at 5 p.m. Tuesday on a Sunday schedule. No fare will be charged through Wednesday, Gov. Cuomo said. Subway tunnels are still flooded.

Getty

New Yorkers won't have to pay to ride the bus on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Bus service resumed late Tuesday, with the MTA operating on a Sunday schedule.

LIVE BLOG: UPDATES ON HURRICANE SANDY

Gov. Cuomo said he hoped regular bus service would resume Wednesday.

Riders can ride for free Tuesday and Wednesday as they are "struggling to get their lives in gear."

Cuomo and MTA Chairman said the authority would try and restore parts of the subway system and complement it with bus service - but said restoring service through now-flooded subway tunnels beneath the East River was a daunting task.

"The damage to the tracks, tunnels under water, is unlike anything the city has seen in decades, if ever," Cuomo said.

MTA bridges are opening at noon. The Hugh Carey Tunnel and the Port Authority's Holland Tunnel are flooded and closed.

Officials didn't say when the commuter railroads would be back on line. Metro-North was dealing with power outages - and a 40-foot boat beached across tracks in Ossining.

"Sandy wreaked havoc on our entire transportation system in every single borough in the city and every single county in the MTA region," Lhota said.

Water in one lower Manhattan station was up to the ceiling, Lhota said. 

Because the MTA moved subway trains and buses to protected areas no buses or train cars suffered damage, Lhota said.