Metro-North envisions a ‘Way Ahead’

Metro-North on Tuesday released a plan to improve the safety and reliability of the commuter railroad that carried more than 86 million riders last year.

But the series of proposals is mostly focused on improvements on the New York side of the rail system and barely mentions the New Haven Line or the New Canaan, Danbury and Waterbury branch lines, which are owned by Connecticut.

“They are talking about enhancing New York, not Connecticut,” said state Sen. Toni Boucher, RWilton, co-chairwoman of the Legislature’s transportation committee.

“That is terrible for us,” Boucher said. “Our contract with MetroNorth is terrible and we pay 65 percent of the bill.”

Although Connecticut owns its rails and equipment, the railroad is run by Metro-North under a decades-long contract with the state.

Metro-North officials touted the plan, unveiled in an email to commuters, as the “Way Ahead” for the railroad.

“I ride the train every day, to work in the morning and to home at night,” Metro-North President Catherine Rinaldi said in a video.

Planned upgrades

Highlights of the plan include a call for enhanced safety, reliability and customer service, along with improving cellphone coverage and connectivity, purchasing multilevel coaches to handle increased ridership and buying 66 new M8 rail cars to accommodate increased ridership.

The plan also calls for completing access from the New Haven Line to Penn Station and replacement of the catenary power lines in southwestern Connecticut.

“All of their upgrades are dead on,” Shawn Thompson said while waiting for a train at the Bridgeport station Tuesday evening. He said said he takes the train from Bridgeport to Stamford every day.

But one thing Thompson would like to see is an option for food and beverages on the train, like riders on Amtrak have access to.

“There’s no concession stand on trains,” he said. “I’d like to see that.”

Rinaldi said 2 million more people are expected to live in the New York City metropolitan area by 2040, and many of those will live near Metro-North stations and use the train system.

Boucher said she is constantly hearing complaints about trains being late — sometimes by as much as 20 minutes — and said there is no discussion in the plan about resolving that problem.

“It makes a big difference,” Boucher said of on-time performance. “Connecticut cannot afford to lose more people.”

Nancy Gamerman, a MetroNorth spokeswoman, said the plan will benefit riders in Connecticut and New York.

“Way Ahead details actions to enhance safety, service, infrastructure and communications, which benefits all Metro-North customers,” Gamerman said.

Lizmary Padilla, who lives in Stamford and was waiting for a train ride home from Bridgeport on Tuesday, said she travels a lot for her job, often taking the train because it’s easier.

“They could clean more inside the trains, if that’s not already a plan,” Padilla said.

History of crashes

Rinaldi acknowledged the railroad’s troubled history, citing two crashes in 2013 — one in the Bronx and one in Bridgeport — that killed four riders and injured nearly 100 passengers.

“The events of 2013 led to a lot of soul searching and inspired us to take a more targeted look at every aspect of our operations, including our culture, systems, training, inspections and maintenance,” Rinaldi said.

A “Deep Dive” investigation by the Federal Railroad Administration concluded Metro-North was too focused on on-time performance and put insufficient resources into maintenance, repairs and safety.

Rinaldi said the railroad’s investment in infrastructure has improved reliability.

“As reliability improved, ridership has more than doubled, spurring population and economic growth,” Rinaldi said.

Boucher noted Metro-North’s call for “double decker” trains would not work in Connecticut because bridges are often too low to accommodate them.

Metro-North officials said the “bi-level” trains are still being evaluated.

Jim Cameron, founder of the Commuter Action Group and a Hearst Connecticut Media columnist, said there is little discussion in the plan about improving the Connecticut side of the rail line.

“There’s much discussion in their plan about improving stations, but that’s irrelevant to Connecticut where (the state) owns and maintains the stations and parking,” Cameron said.

He said there is also no mention of the railroad’s multiyear slide in on-time performance, which he said has dropped to 85 percent.

A spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Transportation said he could not comment on the Metro-North plan.

Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media Commuters wait on the platform as a Metro-North train arrives at the Stamford train station on Tuesday. A new Metro-North report is out, detailing the MTA's public strategic plan called “Way Ahead.”