Poughkeepsie passengers escort, even carry, others due to broken elevator at MTA train station
The MTA is advising less mobile people to call the Metro North Care program two hours before their trips to request that their trains arrive at a platform with elevator access, but many commuters arrive at the station not knowing in advance that it is not fully accessible.
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Commuters and MTA staff have been escorting, and sometimes carrying, people with mobility issues up and down steps at the Poughkeepsie train station because of an elevator that's been out of service for months.
Gil Tunnell, a retired professor from New York City, wanted News 12 to show what he had to go through to board his train home. He was trying to catch his train to Grand Central Station when he learned the train arrival was switched to the next platform over, where there is no elevator access.
While an MTA employee held his items, the 76-year-old gingerly made his way down the stairs to the platform between tracks #1 and #3. The stairs were his only option.
"They switched the track," Tunnell said. "I saw the train coming, I thought, 'Thank God, I'll be able to get on it,' and then it's over here."
The MTA is advising people with mobility issues to call the Metro North Care program two hours before their trips to request that their trains arrive at a platform with elevator access, but many commuters arrive at the station not knowing in advance that it is not fully accessible.
One person who works close to this train station says he's been helping people up and down the stairs every day.
He said that one day, he carried four people down the steps to the platform.
State Sen. Rob Rolison said on Tuesday that MTA officials told him they are still waiting for a certain part to be manufactured and then delivered, which could take several more months.
The unclear timeline begs the question - what is the contingency plan for the many people who do not — and should not have to — call ahead to request a track change?
"We want to know," Rolison said in an interview at the train station, "because we're communicating this through our newsletters and social media means that 'This is what you're supposed to do,' but there's got to be some kind of end game and I haven't heard it yet."
An MTA spokesperson said dispatchers are directing additional trains to the track with the working elevator, not offering a timeframe for repair, nor a plan to serve less mobile people who do not call in advance.
"Once all parts are delivered and installed, the elevator will go through testing and inspections before opening to the public," the spokesperson wrote.
