Blumenthal slates hearing next week in Bridgeport on Metro-North power failure

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal has announced he will chair a field hearing next Monday on the failure of a 138,000 volt feeder line in Mount Vernon,N.Y. that crippled the New Haven Line for two weeks late last month.

The hearing will be from 10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. next Monday in city council chambers at Bridgeport City Hall, 45 Lyon Terrace.

Among those testifying at the hearing will be Con Edison President Craig Ivey, Metro-North Railroad President Howard Permut, John Hartwell, a member of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council, and Otto Lynch of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

In the wake of the outage last month Blumenthal and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. called for the federal Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability along with the New York Public Service Commission to conduct an investigation into the causes of the cable failure.

“Significant investment in our rail infrastructure is vital to stopping more severe service disruptions–repeated  breakdowns becoming the new normal, discouraging reliance on rail, pushing more cars onto our crowded highways, and limiting job growth as companies choose to relocate elsewhere,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “…This hearing is an important first step in determining the cause of the latest failure, and in considering future measures and investments in our rail system.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (AP)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (AP)

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (AP)