Rail expertise from strangers on a train
I hop aboard the 9:05 a.m. from Danbury to South Norwalk like a nomad in a 1940s Preston Sturges flick.
Some colleagues are here to grill newly minted Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Joe Giulietti and Metro-North Railroad President Catherine Rinaldi, who are hosting the ride in response to a published invitation from fellow columnist and editorial page editor Jacky Smith.
I’m just along for the ride.
I already vented to a couple of suits about the busted ticket machine that is the only option at the station. I glance past the kiosk at the panorama of steel ghosts in a rail yard that’s part of the Danbury Rail Museum. On the other side is the original station house, which just happened to be a set for Alfred Hitchcock’s “Strangers on a Train” in 1951.
There aren’t many strangers in our closed car (or on the others at this time of day). Bethel First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker climbs aboard at the next stop to seize time with the VIPs. More than once, Giulietti throws a thumb over his shoulder at a couple of DOT teammates sitting quietly in the back, a skipper poised to pull in relief from the bullpen.
I decide they’re the strangers I should talk to and drift from the rolling news conference.
John Bernick and Carl Jackson are happy to talk trains.
Bernick looks serious. He reads my mind. “People always say, ‘You look so serious when you’re at work,” he says.
His tone tilts toward droll. Like when he asks, “Maybe you’ve heard of PTC?” as if he knows I’ve written 48 editorials about positive train control.
But he insists his serious visage is “because there are 25 different things in my head right now.”
I don’t have to ask the logical follow-up question. He ticks off some of his 25 responsibilities as assistant rail administrator.
He looks out the window near the Cannondale stop and starts thinking about poles with fiber optics that he has to consult AT&T about because they’re showing wear. This is the guy who oversees rebuilds on stations of the 1890 vintage. Now he has to worry about outdated fiber optics.
Then there are the power substations reaching the end of their lives.
“They were installed in 1990. I think I remember 1990. I got married in 1990 — it doesn’t seem that long ago,” he says.
Bernick’s head is filled with bubbles. That’s his word choice. The word “railroad” is usually synonymous with “delay.” Repairs ... delayed. Projects ...
delayed. Trains ... delayed. “Bubbles” is a refreshing alternative.
“If you don’t keep up with stuff in real time you create bubbles,” he explains. “‘We won’t do that right now, we’ll defer.’ You don’t want to hear that word. You just made that bubble bigger. Is it going to be cheaper in five years? Probably not.”
Money comes up again when we talk speed. Whenever Giulietti’s 30-30-30 vision comes up, it feels like it might as well include the Hogwarts Express. Cynics (aka, any rail commuter) scoff at the notion of traveling from Hartford to New Haven, New Haven to Stamford and Stamford to Grand Central each in 30-minute spells. They’re happy when the train arrives at a time in the hemisphere of its schedule.
But Bernick and Jackson share the view from the inside track. After some major projects are cleared, they can recapture lost travel time by rehabbing drainage issues (yes, on the inside tracks) that forced speed restrictions. A few seconds here and a few seconds there add up.
“To a commuter, five minutes is a lot of time,” Jackson says.
Bernick became a structural engineer after serving as a U.S. Air Force pilot. Jackson (like Giulietti) started his rail career as a brakeman. They are an appropriate pairing: The guy with the need for speed and the brakeman.
“I’m an engineer so I’m never going to tell you (30-30-30) is impossible. It’s just going to cost you a lot of money,” Bernick says.
Since this is not where I usually roam, I press for intel on Greenwich and Stamford. Reconstruction of the Old Greenwich Train Station is finally nearing completion, so Stamford’s Atlantic Street bridge replacement project “is the big elephant in the room right now,” Bernick says.
Since the Stamford station will temporarily be limited to two tracks while the old bridge is removed, the project is timed for when ridership dips to the lowest of the year.
Bernick flashes another one of those expressions. He offers his next advice wryly, but I know he’s serious.
“If you’re thinking about taking a vacation, the Fourth of July would be a good time.”
Just don’t go by train.