The first line of defense, in some cases, is the train engineers themselves, said Michael Doyle, general chairman of the Engineers Division of the Association of CommuterRail Employees, which represents train operators on Metro-North.
All three commuterrail systems were planning to add extra train service in the afternoon to help carry an anticipated early rush hour of Manhattan office workers departing ahead of the storm.
For the chance at one day riding in a new train tunnel beneath the Hudson River, commuterrail riders may have a strange entity to thank: superstorm Sandy.