The shutdown of the transit system lasted less than 12 hours—and some are questioning the decision. NY1's Jose Martinez  filed this report.

It’s rare to see rush hour trains and platforms as empty as they were just before the subway reopened to riders Tuesday morning.

Then again, a snowstorm has never shut down the city's transit lifeline.

"I think this is a total mistake. It's an overreaction to a storm that didn't turn out to be what it was supposed to be," said a subway rider at Columbus Circle.

Governor Andrew Cuomo disagreed, insisting that cutting commuters off from the transit system at 11 p.m. Monday was the right call.

"I'd much rather be in a situation where we say 'We got lucky,' than saying we didn't get lucky and somebody died," said Cuomo.

That was a departure from an earlier plan to store trains on underground express tracks, but keep local service going throughout the storm.

As for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, it didn't want a repeat of the crippling 2010 snowstorm when riders were marooned on stalled trains on outdoor tracks altering how the agency prepares in advance for big storms.

"If you remember 2010, December 26, when we had 40 some trains stranded and 600 buses stranded for a 20 inch snowstorm, that informed us very well going forward, that to close portions of the system, protect the equipment and shovel out quicker is the better way to go," said MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast.

Yet, trains kept rolling overnight without passengers. That was a measure the MTA said kept the power and allowed for an easier restoration of service hours later.

The countdown clocks stayed on too, even if no one was around to hop aboard.

Then there were the work trains, which were dispatched to the vulnerable open-air stations like the ones that were overwhelmed during the 2010 storm.

"Any railroad, that's a normal process that's done. You try to keep the line clear by running equipment, non-revenue service trains," said Prendergast.

And now the lines are clear for a more run-of the mill commute, crowds and all.