Impact On Other Services
Beyond the adverse effects on railroad traffic, there was a massive effect on life and activities in downtown Baltimore. The incident forced the closing of streets and business over much of downtown for several days.
According to a November 2005 Report to Congress
- Officials cancelled three Baltimore Orioles games, resulting in a $5 million loss to the team.
- They also closed Howard Street, along with 14 other cross streets, for five days.
- A two-block stretch of Howard Street remained closed for six more weeks.
- MTA Maryland rerouted 23 bus lines, and MARC Train service to Camden Station was suspended.
- The fire and burst water main damaged power cables and left 1,200 Baltimore buildings without electricity.
- Severed fiber-optic lines backed up traffic regionally and nationally because the fiber-optic cable through the tunnel is a major line for the extremely busy Northeast corridor.
- The Inner Harbor was closed to boat traffic.
- A water-main break near the tunnel added to the chaos, causing the collapse of part of a major thoroughfare and power outages.
The severed optical fiber cable in the tunnel was a major east coast internet communication link belonging to WorldCom. The break slowed internet service around the US for several hours; water from the water main break caused further damage to the communication lines. According to the DoT report, WorldCom was able to install a fully redundant network bypass around the incident within 36 hours, allowing resumption of east coast and transatlantic internet communications.
The aftermath of the fire affected some activities for longer periods.
- MTA shut down light rail service through the city for over seven weeks, with shuttle buses running between the North Avenue and Patapsco stations, and later between North Avenue and Camden.
- The intersection at Howard and Lombard streets, one of the busiest in the city, was not re-opened until September 5.
Read more about this topic: Howard Street Tunnel Fire
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