Station Square reopens for outbound T

Port Authority will reopen the Station Square station for outbound light-rail vehicles Thursday morning while it continues testing emergency signals on the inbound track with a goal of reopening that sideover the weekend.

That station has been closed since Aug. 5, when a derailed Norfolk Southern train damagedwires and tracks.

Spokesman Adam Brandolph said the agency chose to open the outbound side first because the evening rush hour “is usually a little harder onour system.”

Mr. Brandolph credited authority workers and contractors for finishing the project sooner than the projected threeto four weeks.

“Our folks and the contractor were very aggressive doing this and we’re glad to be getting back to some sort of normalcyhere,” he said.

Crews will be testing emergency signals on the inbound track in the next few days to make sure they are working correctly and reopen once theypass the tests.

The agency has been running all light-rail vehicles on the Allentown line since the derailment.

One of seven derailed Norfolk Southern train cars and the loads of several others fell onto Port Authority tracks and cleanup crews caused damage with heavy equipment they placed on authorityproperty.

The authority had to replace about 1,600 feet of track; install 4,000 feet of overhead electrical lines and a new support structure to hold them; re-establish fiber-optic service for safety signals; rebuild a retaining wall; clear drains and install a new sidewalk along a buslane behind the station.

The authority said in a news release that it still is tallying damages from the derailment and “working to ensure the agency is not responsible for paying for these repairs.” Earlier this week, the railroad said it was “aware” that the authority and city incurred damages from the derailment and that it will “carefully review” any reimbursementclaim it receives.

The emergency at the Station Square station has delayed work to reopen the end of the Blue Line, from the Lytle to the Library station, after heavy rain in late June washed away ballast and damaged retaining walls in many areas along the 3-mile stretch. That area, which now is served by shuttle buses, had been scheduled to open by Sept. 1, but that has been pushed back to mid-September.