Watchdogs necessary to keep railroad on schedule

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is not to everyone’s taste. His critics call him boorish and grandstanding. A watchdog who barks too often, too loudly. Imagine how it feels to be barked at. It was this way long before he became a U.S. senator in 2013, pretty early in his 20-year tenure as Connecticut’s attorney general.

We prefer his approach to the alternative.

This week, Blumenthal chose to bark — again — at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

We’ve all howled at the railroad at one point or another, haven’t we? Usually because it’s running late when we’re on our way to work, or a job interview, or a show. The senator has been barking for years for the MTA to stop making excuses about delays in the implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC), which could halt trains in event of human error.

“I know that Metro-North has been resistant, but clearly the railroad needs to face its responsibility for better performance on safety and reliability. I would oppose any delay in this kind of vital safety measure,” Blumenthal warned five years ago.

At the time, riders were able to fully grasp the urgency of the technology, as an accident in the Bronx, N.Y.

, killed four passengers and injured several others. An engineer had fallen asleep at the throttle.

The clock started ticking on PTC implementation five years earlier than the crash. It now ticks toward Dec. 31, the end of its decadelong deadline.

On Wednesday, Blumenthal growled again.

“They have no excuses left. Congress passed a law 10 years ago, and the MTA has been given $1 billion by the federal government to complete this work,” he said in a statement. “MTA must hold accountable officials who are responsible for this outrageous delay.”

The issue arose as the railroad attributed its worst on-time figures in five years to PTC work. Some 14 percent of trains were reportedly six minutes late last month.

Riders numb to decades of delays likely didn’t notice. And even the most frustrated among them has the wisdom to choose safety over arrival times.

Use that extra wait time to parse the railroad’s convoluted response: “Assertions that Metro-North is saying it will ‘miss the deadline,’ and potentially subject itself to fines, are incorrect. Any railroad meeting these criteria has the right to submit an alternative schedule for up to two additional years to have PTC fully activated across all parts of the railroad upon filing the paperwork with federal regulators. We expect to file the paperwork in the fall, once we have met the federal requirements to file.”

We can’t help but feel this train will pull into the station a little late.

So we’re happy to hear the likes of U.S. Sen Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., join Blumenthal for a duet of barking, saying Metro-North should “move heaven and earth” to get the job done.

Keeping the pressure on can only help. Release the hounds.

The senator has been barking for years for the MTA to stop making excuses about delays in the implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC), which could halt trains in event of human error.