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Gov. Dannel P. Malloy today called Metro-North Railroad President Howard Permut, directly intervening to help find “an immediate solution” to the railroad’s weather-caused equipment problems, Malloy’s office announced.Link to the website: http://www.westportnow.com/index.php?/v ... nts/32001/
It said Malloy was joined on the call by Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman and Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Jeffrey Parker.
“Hailing from Fairfield County, I know all too well what a reduction in service or reliability on the New Haven line means for commuters in the area,” Malloy said, according to his office.
“That’s why I felt it was important to call Howard to ask about any and all alternative options for commuters. Let me be clear: This isn’t about placing blame.
“We’ve had a record-breaking winter in terms of our weather, and our rail cars and service facilities have not been kept up in the manner they should have been.
“We all know this is true. So in addition to my long-term focus on improving Metro-North’s reliability and functionality, I’m also focused on this short-term service reduction and ways in which we can help commuters get into and out of New York City more easily.”
Malloy’s office said Permut told the governor that Metro-North is operating under an expedited repair schedule, with crews working around the clock to put cars back in service as quickly as they can.
Permut said that the lack of shop space has been an impediment to their success, according to Malloy’s office.
Walk into Grand Central Terminal on a weekday afternoon, and you'll see some of the world's wealthiest workers girding themselves for a third-world commute.Link to the article: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/op ... fTHTG0T6hI
For the last month on Metro North's New Haven Line, "it's been short trains and long waits," as one commuter told me. Passengers crowd onto platforms in the morning to wait for trains that come late and then squeeze into standing-room cars for a slow ride, facing the same on the way home.
In the afternoon, the MTA can't predict when late trains are coming and which track they'll be on, making for uncertainty and anxiety at GCT. Some commuters are tempted to stop paying, because the trains are so packed that conductors can't pass through to check.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/op ... z1DUxjithQ
Clean Cab wrote:No one should fault those who have been working non stop to fix the trains. The fault lies with former CT Gov. John Rowland. Who surprisingly had his greatest support among the super rich people from towns like Westport, Darien, Fairfield and New Canaan, many of whom ride the New Haven Line every day. I wonder if some of those people ever regret electing Rowland twice as they ride in shortened (and many times) late trains?The MNRR Maintenance Department along with everyone else working really long hours really do deserve a lot of credit.
Jeff Smith wrote: Design flaws on the traction motors have been well-noted, i.e. they are susceptible to fine snow and related shorts. I believe I read something similar on the metroliners.A lot of the older GE-based equipment suffered from the same problems, including the M-1s and M-3s as well. Once LIRR went over to M-7s, winter failures dramatically declined.
Similarly, the CSR programs plusses and minuses have been well-documented as well.
Clean Cab wrote:I can't think of any new MU equipment ever delivered to the purchasing railroad that was troubler free. And as they get more complex, the likelyhood of software issues increases. It will take time to resolve all glitches. Better to find the problems during testing than to accept them "as is", put them in service then discover some huge problems.I would agree with you if the existing, older trains were able to keep up, but they aren't. I'd rather have 80% of the new trains operating with 20% experiencing time in the shops than what is happening now, where 60% of the old trains are operating and 40% of them are in the shop.
MNCRR9000 wrote:From the WestportNow.com news site. It is great the Gov. Malloy is stepping and offering to help find a solution to the New Haven Line issues. By putting funding for New Haven Rail Yard upgrades on the Bond Commission agenda is also a great start. It is nice to see that he cares about the railroad and wants to make it a priority.Partial quote from an earlier post. My observation is this: Malloy originally grand-standed; he's grand-standing again; I see nothing concrete in service offer helps using SLE or CDOT equipment, if only in shuttle service; he says it's not about blame after he spent his previous grand-standing stint blaming Rell, and as soon as he says he's not out to blame, he reiterates his blame assessment.
WestportNow.com wrote:“That’s why I felt it was important to call Howard to ask about any and all alternative options for commuters. Let me be clear: This isn’t about placing blame.Link to the website: http://www.westportnow.com/index.php?/v ... nts/32001/
“We’ve had a record-breaking winter in terms of our weather, and our rail cars and service facilities have not been kept up in the manner they should have been.
“We all know this is true. So in addition to my long-term focus on improving Metro-North’s reliability and functionality, I’m also focused on this short-term service reduction and ways in which we can help commuters get into and out of New York City more easily.”
Metro-North rail car repairs updateLink to the article: http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_ ... irs-update
Updated: Wednesday, 09 Feb 2011, 7:16 PM EST
Published : Wednesday, 09 Feb 2011, 5:17 PM EST
New Haven, Conn (WTNH) - It is day three of running a reduced schedule on the Metro-North New Haven line in Connecticut, and while repair crews continue working to repair weather-related damage to the cars, News 8 went to the Commissioner of the state DOT, Jeffrey Parker, to find out what's being done to move things along.
"Metro North maintenance crews are working round the clock to get cars repaired and back in service and back to normal," Parker said.
As many as 140 cars are still out of service, and Metro-North could be short until next month, so we asked why not lease, rent, or borrow more reliable cars from other states in the MTA network, like New York or New Jersey. They're having a similar winter.
"They're being severely hit by this storm as well, and short cars. The other issue is that the infrastructure of the New Haven line is unique. And even if there were cars available, there's really a limited number of cars that we could borrow from somewhere else that would work," said Parker.
