Transport Topics Closed Jan. 25, 26 as Washington Digs Out From Blizzard

New York and New Jersey restored transportation services Jan. 24 and strove to be ready for a near-normal workweek, while Washington struggled to overcome the blizzard that blanketed parts of the Mid-Atlantic region with two feet of snow.

Stock, bond, and commodities markets in New York are planning to operate on regular schedules Jan. 25, spokeswomen said. Federal offices in Washington will be closed on Jan. 25, the Office of Personnel Management said. The House of Representatives canceled all votes scheduled for the week, and the Senate postponed to Jan. 27 from Jan. 26 a vote to confirm John M. Vazquez as a district judge for New Jersey.

The Washington-to-New York corridor is recovering from a weekend storm that brought the region to a standstill, cut power to several hundred thousand customers, and was blamed for at least 18 deaths. By the time the snow stopped falling in New York on the night of Jan. 23, it measured 26.8 inches deep in Central Park. That’s the second-most logged after a single storm and just 0.1 inches shy of the record set in February 2006.

The blizzard picked up steam after traveling across the South and Midwest. It dropped more than a foot of snow on parts of Ohio, North Carolina and Kentucky before hitting the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast with full force the morning of Jan. 23. West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland logged some of the heaviest snowfall while Massachusetts was largely spared precipitation of the magnitude it sustained last winter.

Air services were resuming in New York on Jan. 24, but two of Washington’s three airports remained closed.

American Airlines Group Inc. canceled more than 1,600 flights scheduled for Jan. 24 as its operations remained closed at the major airports in New York and Washington, the company said in an e-mailed statement. Southwest Airlines Co. canceled about 550 flights on Jan. 24 and 40 on Jan. 25, according to its website. Delta Air Lines Inc. resumed operations in New York and Philadelphia on Jan. 24 and expects flights to and from Washington will begin Jan. 25.

Buses began plying New York’s streets, bridges and tunnels the morning of Jan. 24 as a travel ban was lifted, while the Metro-North Railroad and above-ground subway service was gradually restored, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s website. Service was suspended on the Long Island Railroad as the line, which serves the area to the east of the city, struggled with rail yards buried in snow, frozen switches and stalled trains.

“Today is going to be a very intense clean up day,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos” Jan. 24. “We think we’ll be broadly up and running again at the city tomorrow.” The city’s alternate-side parking rules will be suspended through Jan. 29 to facilitate snow removal, de Blasio said at a news conference.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on CNN’s "State of the Union" Jan. 24 that about 22,000 people in two areas of the state were without electricity at 8 a.m. and that most would have power restored by the end of the day. No storm-related deaths have been reported in the state, he said.

“All of New Jersey’s roadways are open this morning. New Jersey Transit, buses, and light rail will be ready by noon today,” Christie said. “When we get to our morning rush tomorrow morning, we will be ready to go with no problem at all.”

The Washington area’s Metro subway system plans to reopen some underground routes at 7 a.m. Jan. 25, according to its website. Metro won’t charge fares for the day. Service will still be unavailable to many key Washington-area locations, including rail routes that link to Ronald Reagan National Airport and the Pentagon in suburban Virginia. The system may expand service “as conditions allow.”

Snow totaled 29.2 inches at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, the most since Baltimore began keeping records in 1892. Cleanup efforts on roads are still under way. “We urge motorist to NOT drive unless it’s absolutely necessary,” the Maryland Transportation Authority tweeted on the morning of Jan. 24.

Most public and charter schools in Washington and its suburbs will be closed Jan. 25, according to the District of Columbia Public Schools’ website.

Many schools in the Philadelphia area will also remain closed Jan. 25, according to local media reports. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which serves the city and its suburbs, restored some bus and trolley service the afternoon of Jan. 24. It expects regional rail lines, which remain suspended, will operate the morning of Jan. 25 with delays, it said in a press release.

New York City schools will be open, De Blasio said.

Flights resumed at New York’s three main airports. The storm wiped out at least 13,000 trips in the Northeast, a tally that’s likely to rise as some airlines pre-emptively scrapped flights scheduled for Jan. 25, data tracker FlightAware.com said Jan. 24 in an e-mailed statement.

LaGuardia Airport was the most affected New York airport with more than three quarters of flights grounded, according to FlightAware. At least half the flights at Newark Liberty International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport were canceled.

Washington’s Dulles International and Reagan National airports remained closed on Jan. 24, spokeswoman Kimberly Gibbs said. Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall reopened the afternoon of Jan. 24 but airport officials cautioned on its Twitter account that “airlines will be slow to get back on track.” Its website showed a few flights scheduled to depart or arrive late Jan. 24.

GrubHub Inc., which delivers restaurant food under its own brand and also as Seamless, said it’s refunding orders that went unfilled. The company is speaking with restaurants “to stay up-to-date as they choose to re-open,” spokeswoman Katie Norris said in an e-mail.

Online grocer Fresh Direct Holdings Inc. is making “only sporadic deliveries in Manhattan,” according to spokeswoman Amanda Cortese Vogel. She said it would resume normal operations for New York City, its suburbs and Philadelphia on Jan. 25. The company is working with government officials to donate food it couldn’t deliver to organizations including City Harvest and the Food Bank for New York City.