(CNN)The very first time in the 115-year history, New You are able to City deliberately shut lower its entire subway system Wednesday morning.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 06: Union Square station is shuttered as the New York City subway system, the largest public transportation system in the nation is set for nightly cleaning due to the continued spread of the coronavirus on May 06, 2020 in New York City. Following reports of homeless New Yorkers sleeping on the trains and the deaths of numerous subway employees, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has decided to close New Yorks subway system from 1am to 5am every evening for a deep cleaning. New York continues to be the national center of the COVID-19 outbreak.(Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)
The main reason: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) deep cleaned to prevent spread from the coronavirus.
“Remarkable occasions demand remarkable measures,” MTA Chairman Patrick Foye stated inside a night time news conference Tuesday.
The Brand New You are able to City subway been shut lower due to weather: Hurricane Irene this year and Hurricane Sandy this year. Throughout the blizzard of 2015, the machine canceled passenger service but equipment trains stored running.
But this is actually the first planned shutdown.
The cleanings will be performed on the nightly basis, from 1 a.m. to five a.m. Once the cleaning is performed, each and every subway vehicle is going to be disinfected.
To support losing train service, the MTA is adding hundreds of buses to the typical overnight routes to make certain essential workers get access to transportation.
Subway officials cautioned New You are able to residents that there might be hiccups in executing the unparalleled closure.
“If the were an ordinary moment, we’d have planned this for several weeks,” New You are able to City Transit President Sarah Feinberg stated.
Subway ridership throughout the coronavirus crisis is lower 90% from pre-pandemic occasions. But about 11,000 people have used the subway from 1 a.m. to five a.m. daily throughout the pandemic, the MTA stated.
The pandemic already had forced changes to service. MTA has installed vinyl shields on buses to help separate passengers and motorists, which is checking greater than 3,500 employees each day for fevers.
Greater than 80 MTA employees, including a minimum of 50 who labored within the subway, have left from complications associated with coronavirus, the authority states.
