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This past week Metro-North Railroad tied into a new service which allows riders to text schedule requests to 266266(CooCoo) to get on-the-go schedule information in moments.
Text message your station-to-station destination to 266266(CooCoo) and get back your scheduling information.
For more information on how to use CooCoo, you should visit the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Web-site at www.mta.info/mnr
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.
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.
January wasn’t just the snowiest month on record in Connecticut. It was also one of the most hectic in several years for commuters on Metro-North, who have been forced to deal with countless delays, service changes and overcrowded trains.
Over at BlogJam they are collecting your stories, and want to hear from you.
How has the weather impacted your commuting experience? Have you been late for work, stuck waiting for an hour or longer for a train? Unable to sit down on your ride to Stamford or Grand Central?
If so, leave a comment. Tell us what your experiences have been like.
Have a particular horror story? Or a story about Metro-North crews stepping up and improving service despite adverse conditions?
Have a memorable experience involving a trip to or from work?
Leave a comment and let us know. We’ll take the best stories and feature them on our websites.
You can also reach us on Twitter @ConnPost, @StamAdvocate, @NewsTimes or @GreenwichTime to send stories, photos or live updates during your commute.
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.
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.
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.
A whistleblower investigation by the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration has cited Metro-North Railroad for disciplining a New Haven Railyard employee after he filed a complaint with OSHA, finding the discipline was retaliatory and infringed the protections of the Federal Railroad Safety Act for workers.
OSHA has ordered the railroad to pay $80,500 in punitive damages and fees to the worker, and expunge records and actions related to the discipline.
In addition the railroad will be required to inform workers of their whistleblower rights under the Federal Railroad Safety Act to report on the job injuries.
Metro-North Railroad spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is considering its options for a legal appeal of the decision. The railroad has 30 days from being notified of the findings to file an appeal with the Labor Department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges.
According to OSHA, the employee faced disciplinary action after filing a whistleblower complaint with OSHA in November 2008 that alleged earlier retaliation for his filing a report of a workplace injury.
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