MTA Brings Outside Help to Subway Fire Investigation

New York, NY —

The MTA is asking a consultant to study the fire that destroyed a signal room at Chambers Street on Sunday, disrupting service on the A and C lines.

Transit Authority president Lawrence Reuter says employees are working hard to restore rush hour service in 6 to 9 months. He also acknowledges he wasn't clear when he initially said it could take three to five years. He says that timeline referred only to replacing the gutted signal room.

Meanwhile, the TA says 158 out of its 200 signal rooms now have heat detectors and fire suppression technology. But the one at Chambers Street, which dates back to the 1930s, hadn't been upgraded yet.