Blumenthal: Billions needed to prevent Metro-North job loss, service cuts
WEST HAVEN — U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday urged the federal government to provide billions in relief funding, saying roughly half of Metro-North service and thousands of jobs could otherwise be on the chopping block as the organization deals with the financial ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic.
MTA President Catherine Rinaldi said ridership is off about 80 percent at this point as compared to a normal year, with the MetroNorth New Haven Line seeing a greater decline than others under the authority’s auspices.
The MTA is projecting a budget deficit beginning in 2021, with the hole deepening until it reaches $12 billion in 2024, she said. The layoffs and service changes, if required, would likely begin in May 2021, as the body’s next budget takes effect.
“We’re in a hole,” said Rinaldi. “We don’t want to cut service. It is the key to the recovery of this region.”
Without assistance from the federal government, 900 jobs with Metro-North and 9,400 across the MTA could be cut, Blumenthal, DConn., said.
He, Rinaldi and Edward Valente, general chairman of the Association of Commuter Rail Employees, called on Congress to provide $12 billion to address the long-term budget gap at a news conference at the West Haven train station Monday.
Blumenthal said diminishing Metro-North and cutting jobs would further harm the economic, environmental and cultural well-being of the state.
“The simple fact is that Metro-North faces an existential crisis. It’s been building; ridership has been dropping,” said Blumenthal. “It is a fiscal tsunami of unprecedented proportions on this commuter railroad.”
Blumenthal called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to bring the HEROES Act, which would provide coronavirus-related funding for a number of causes, including Metro-North, up for a vote, and said President Donald Trump could choose to “lead or get out of the way” on the issue.
“The fact is that the pandemic relief program, known as the HEROES Act, is essential, not only to this railroad, but to small business, families, state and local governments,” said Blumenthal. “This pandemic relief package is essential now, even before the inaugural.”