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Metropolitan Transportation Authority arrests for the week of Feb. 12 to 19.

INCIDENT:   Traffic Stop – Arrest Made

DATE:  02/18/11

TIME:            9:30pm

REPORT #:  11-2061

LOCATION:  Bridgeport Station

ARRESTEE:  Mercedes, Ruben, M/H, dob 06/25/1991 – 19 y/o of 117 Kossuth Street, Bridgeport

CHARGES:  CT 29-38 – Weapons in Vehicle, CT 14-147c – Misuse of Plates, CT 14-213b – Uninsured Vehicle, CT 14-12a – Unregistered Vehicle, CT 14-215 – Suspended License, CT 14-18a – Plate Violation

NARRATIVE:

On Friday, February 18^th at 9:30pm MTA Police conducted a traffic stop in front of the Bridgeport train station resulting in the arrest of the vehicle operator.  Ruben Mercedes of Bridgeport was arrested and charged with weapons in vehicle and multiple vehicle and traffic law misdemeanors.  Mercedes was released with a written promise to appear and a February 28^th court date at Bridgeport Superior Court.

INCIDENT:  Theft of Services – Arrest Made

DATE:  2/16/11

TIME:  9:00pm

REPORT #:  11-1960

LOCATION:  New Haven Station

ARRESTEE: Knox, Marque, M/B, dob 03/11/1985 – 25 y/o of 116 MAIN ST -West Haven, CT

CHARGES:  CT 53a-125b – Larceny-6^th Degree

______________________________________________________________________________________

NARRATIVE:

On Wednesday, February 16^th at 9:00pm MTA Police responded to New Haven Station for a report of a male refusing to pay their train fare on board Metro North Train 1574.  Marque Knox of West Haven was arrested and charged with 6^th degree larceny.  Knox was issued a written promise to appear with a March 2^nd court date at New Haven Superior Court.

INCIDENT:  Evading Responsibility – Arrest Made

DATE:  2/17/11

TIME:  7:15pm

REPORT #:  11-2001

LOCATION:  Stamford Station

ARRESTEE: Dokku, Jayasree, F/A, dob 10/17/1979 – 31 y/o of 83 Morgan Street, Stamford

CHARGES: CT 14-224b – Evading Responsibility

NARRATIVE:

On Thursday, February 17^th at 7:15pm MTA Police responded to the Stamford Station for a motor vehicle accident where one of the participants fled the scene.  Jayasree Dokku of Stamford was arrested and charged with evading responsibility.  Dokku was issued a written promise to appear with a 3/4/11 court date at Stamford Superior Court.

INCIDENT:  Criminal Mischief – Arrest Made

DATE: 02/14/11

TIME: 10:50pm

REPORT #: 11-1864

LOCATION:  Stamford Station

ARRESTEE:  Escobar, Ignacio, M/H, dob 05/22/1984 -26 y/o of 226 Whitney Ave., Bridgeport

CHARGES:  CT 53a-117 – Criminal Mischief-3^rd, CT 53a-181 – Breach of Peace-2^nd, CT 53a-140 – Forgery-3^rd, CT 21a-279 – Possession of Marijuana

NARRATIVE:

On Monday, February 14^th at 10:50pm MTA Police responded to Stamford Station for a report of a disorderly person.  Police arrested Ignacio Escobar of Bridgeport.  Escobar is charged with 3^rd degree Criminal Mischief, 2^nd degree Breach of Peace, 3^rd degree Forgery, and Possession of Marijuana.  Escobar was held on $1,000 bond.

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Governor Dannel P. Malloy met with Metro-North President Howard Permut in Hartford Thursday morning to speak about the disruption of service on Metro-North’s New Haven line which has resulted in a reduced service schedule for riders that went into effect this past Monday, his office announced.

Permut has said that limited shop space at the New Haven Railyard and the Stamford Rail Maintenance Facility, has made it impossible to keep the state’s entire 328 car rail fleet in service during harsh winter conditions.

In a statement following the meeting, Malloy had this to say:

“The fact that Metro-North’s New Haven line is the busiest in the United States offers little solace to the commuters who depend on its service each day, The issues we are experiencing there are illustrative of the problems our state is facing generally—for too long we’ve deferred our problems, and instead, we’ve covered them up with a band-aid until some later date. Well, the band-aid has worn off and there is no later date. The average age of the New Haven railcar fleet is 32 years, versus the average age of other line’s fleets which is 6 years—it’s no wonder the New Haven line is having trouble keeping up. And I’m very mindful of the concerns of the commuters who use the Waterbury line, who’ve gotten the short end of the stick over the years. I’m determined to address their legitimate concern as quickly as time and resources allow.

“Mr. Permut and I had a broad discussion  about a capital investment program to get new cars on line as soon as possible. The final stage of testing for the current M8 cars is scheduled to begin shortly , and my bond commission agenda includes funding for the final 38 cars.  I’m not pretending this will solve all our problems—it won’t. But I don’t have the luxury—nor do I have the inclination—to wait around and let someone else deal with this. I asked Mr. Permut for regular updates on the cars currently being repaired, as well as the reduced winter schedule.”
“There is no silver bullet, but I am committed to getting the New Haven line back  to where it needs to be to serve the people of Connecticut.”

I’m trying to follow up to see if Malloy and Permut discussed any possible interim measures that may compensate for the number of cars out of service this winter.

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In case you have been on a vacation to Mars, Connecticut commuters have had a somewhat harsh winter of service delays, crowded cars, and equipment breakdowns of the New Haven line’s electric car fleet due to the equipment’ s vulnerability to winter conditions.

The latest blow has been the decision to begin a reduced schedule beginning this Monday, that cuts service by roughly 10 percent.

There is no simple way for Connecticut legislative historians to explain why the state did not have the vision to organize and fund work to replace the M-2 cars earlier this century as the fleet working past normal retirement age.

What is known is that Governor M Jodi Rell did order a fleet of more than 300 new railcars from Kawasaki Rail Corp.  in 2005, following Metro-North’s so-called “winter of discontent” in 2004 in which 126 of 347 railcars konked out.

In response to the mechanical problems, the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council, a state appointed body that meets monthly to discuss the operation of the railroad, is hosting a commuter forum to “investigate Metro-North’s Winter Service crisis,” at 7 p.m., Feb. 16, at the Stamford Government Center, 888 Washington Boulevard.

“We especially want commuters who have suffered through recent weeks of delays, cancellations, and unheated cars to attend, share their experiences and get their questions answered,” Rail Council Vice Chairwoman Terri Cronin said. “The folks from Metro-North need to hear from their customers. But commuters also need to hear Metro-North explain their challenges in running a first class railroad with third-world equipment.”

The announcement goes on to attribute the true cause of the equipment crisis is the month’s late introduction of the new M-8 railcars, and the car’s manufacturer Kawasaki Rail Corp., has also been invited to the forum.

The first of the M-8 railcars arrived in Connecticut on Christmas Eve 2009, and have been undergoing so-called acceptance testing since then. In December, Council Chairman Jim Cameron lambasted Metro-North and the Connecticut DOT when Metro-North President Howard Permut and DOT Commissioner Jeffrey Parker announced that software problems would push off the long-discussed late 2010 debut date for the M-8 cars.

Back in 2009, the initial manufacture of the cars was delayed by when Kawasaki was unable to obtain enough of the contractually agreed upon steel to build them.

The first set of M-7 cars for Long Island Railroad, which are closely akin i to the M-8 equipment, underwent 20 months after their initial testing began to go into revenue service in October 2002.

That might lead one to suppose that getting any M-8 cars into service in February or March(13 or months after their arrival) would not be out-of line in order to ensure the equipment is safe and reliable.

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Repair work to the damaged catenary wires near Noroton Heights that occurred late Monday night will continue through the Thursday morning A.M. rush hour, meaning Metro-North will cancel and combine the same group of trains it did during Wednesday’s morning rush.

More than 3,000 feet of wire in the area between Noroton Heights and Rowayton stations was pulled down Monday night, a mishap caused by a faulty component called an insulator which helps ensures that catenary wires remain properly aligned.

I included the combinations in a post on Wednesday, but here they are again for your travel planning purposes:

The 6:25 am train from Bridgeport to Grand Central Terminal which will be combined with the 6:11am train from New Haven to Stamford.

•The 5:57 am train from Waterbury to Stamford will need to transfer in Bridgeport to catch the 7:06 am train to Stamford.
•The 5:50 am from New London to Stamford will end its run at 7:02 am in New Haven, with riders being served by the 7:30 am from New Haven to Grand Central Terminal.
•The 6:55am from Old Saybrook to Stamford will end its run in New Haven at 7:44am, where it will be combined with a 7:44 am train which will stop in South Norwalk.
•The 7:26am train from Danbury to Stamford will be cancelled in South Norwalk, with riders to Stamford taking the 8:22 am from South Norwalk which arrives in Stamford at 8:37am.
•The 8:49am from South Norwalk is cancelled and combined with the 8:04 am from New Haven which will make all stops of both trains, arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 9:50am.
The 8:10am train from Stamford to New Haven-State Street station is cancelled and will be combined with the 8:24 am from Stamford arriving at New Haven-State Street at 9:28am.

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Metro-North Railroad expects continuing work to repair damaged overhead power lines near Noroton Heights to push Wednesday morning rush hour trains off schedule, though the fallen wires were expected to hold up some trains during Tuesday evening’s rush hour.
Metro-North will cancel or combine several inbound trains on Wednesday morning to accommodate repairing the wires,including the 6:25 am train from Bridgeport to Grand Central Terminal which will be combined with the 6:11am train from New Haven to Stamford,spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said.
“The changes are not dramatic but if they impact you they can cause a problem,” Anders said.
The damage occurred Tuesday night when the 10:22pm train from Grand Central Terminal pulled down the wires because a component called an insulator that ensures the wires are properly aligned failed, Anders said.
Approximately 3,000 feet of wire were pulled down, and a registration arm smashed the windshield of the train cab, though the engineer was uninjured, Anders said.
Passengers on the train were transferred to a deadhead train to complete their journey to New Haven,Anders said.
Tuesday morning, riders faced delays in both directions between Stamford and New Haven of up to 40 minutes, because the damage limited the railroad to two tracks between Noroton Heights and Rowayton.
The bottleneck was exacerbated by the fact that one of the line’s four tracks , the outbound local track, was already out of service to allow work on the ongoing catenary replacement project and a rail bridge just east of Darien, Anders said.
The cause of the failure of the insulator component is still under investigation, Anders said.
“We know it was the insulator but why it broke is the subject of the investigation,” Anders said.
Anders said the damaged wires and other equipment were activated about nine months ago, after being installed as part of a 20 year project to replace the railroad’s overhead catenary power system that began in 1991.
Limited to two tracks in the Noroton Heights to Rowayton corridor, Metro-North installed additional bridge plates at the Darien, Noroton Heights Tuesday morning to allow passengers to board and exit northbound trains, Anders said.
Southbound travelers have already been using bridge plates to board trains to step over the already out of service track adjacent to the opposite platform, Anders said.
Other inbound combined or cancelled trains and service changes for Wednesday morning are:
•The 5:57 am train from Waterbury to Stamford will need to transfer in Bridgeport to catch the 7:06 am train to Stamford.
•The 5:50 am from New London to Stamford will end its run at 7:02 am in New Haven, with riders being served by the 7:30 am from New Haven to Grand Central Terminal.
•The 6:55am from Old Saybrook to Stamford will end its run in New Haven at 7:44am, where it will be combined with a 7:44 am train which will stop in South Norwalk.
•The 7:26am train from Danbury to Stamford will be cancelled in South Norwalk, with riders to Stamford taking the 8:22 am from South Norwalk which arrives in Stamford at 8:37am.
•The 8:49am from South Norwalk is cancelled and combined with the 8:04 am from New Haven which will make all stops of both trains, arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 9:50am.
The 8:10am train from Stamford to New Haven-State Street station is cancelled and will be combined with the 8:24 am from Stamford arriving at New Haven-State Street at 9:28am.

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The South Western Regional Planning Agency will hold its annual legislative breakfast from 7:30 am to 9 am Monday January 24 in the community room of Norwalk City Hall at 125 East Avenue.

At the breakfast, the eight chief elected officials of Fairfield County towns and other members of SWRPA’s board will discuss issues of transportation and housing with area state legislators from the agency’s eight represented towns and cities, Stamford, Greenwich, Norwalk, Darien, New Canaan, Wilton, Weston, and Westport.

Last year’s meeting focused on the likely impact of reductions in government spending on state aid to towns, with local leaders asking that the state not skimp on essential projects like improving and modernizing Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven line.