METRO NORTH NEW HAVEN RAIL COMMUTER COUNCIL
(Established in 1985 under Connecticut Public Act 85-239, now Sections 13b-212b and
13b -212c of the Connecticut General Statutes)
MINUTES OF JANUARY 18, 2006 MEETING
SACIA OFFICES
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT
Present were: Chairman Rodney Chabot, Vice Chairman Jim Cameron, Bob Jelley, Joe McGee and Steven DiSalvo, Members of the Council; Gene Colonese and Peter Richter, Connecticut DOT; Edward Lydecker, Metro North Railroad; James McKenna, MTA Police; Thomas Bruccoleri, City of Stamford; Mark Ginocchio, Stamford Advocate; Lisa Mercurio and Larry Uydess, members of the public.
The meeting began at 6:00 pm.
Bob Jelley said that some questions had been raised about the minutes of the December 21, 2005 meeting, and he suggested that he needed to make some revisions. As a result, approval of the December minutes was deferred until the February meeting.
Rodney Chabot welcomed Steven DiSalvo of Milford, as a newly-appointed member of the Rail Council.
Larry Uydess, a commuter from Fairfield, reported that on his train home, the conductor apologized for having a full compliment of nine cars on the train, so that all cars were unable to platform at some of the stations.
It was reported that Edward Lydecker of Hamden, who works in Metro North’s Operations Planning Department, is replacing Gene Colonese as the regular Metro North representative at Council meetings.
MONTHLY REPORT
Mr. Colonese stated that the numbers on the December Monthly Report were still preliminary. He stated that during the New York City transit strike, Metro North carried more than 100,000 passengers into New York City during the morning rush hour. He also reported that 96 cars had completed the rehabilitation program.
In response to a question about the Virginia cars in use on Shore Line East, Mr. Richter reminded the Council that bids would be opened on January 19 for service of the remaining Virginia cars. Mr. Chabot asked how the twelve cars already in use on Shore Line East had been serviced, and Mr. Richter said that Amtrak had agreed to service those cars, but no others.
Jim Cameron asked why the numbers in the New York Times about the number of cars on trains were different from those on the monthly report. Mr. Colonese said that the monthly report shows only on-peak compliance with the planned number of cars on trains, whereas the New York Time’s figures include off-peak and weekend.
In response to a question from Joe McGee about the success of the Christmas ticket promotion, Mr. Colonese said he would report on that at the February meeting.
SPECIFICATIONS FOR NEW M-8 CARS
Mr. Cameron announced that he had given a list of questions about the M-8 specifications to the DOT people prior to the meeting. He said he recognized that the DOT representatives probably had not had time to be able to respond to the questions. Mr. Richter said that he could respond to some, but was planning to prepare written answers.
Mr. Cameron asked about the reason for the choice of LTK as the contractor to prepare the specifications. Mr. Richter said that CDOT and MNRR had agreed that LTK was the best available. He went on to say that the State expects delivery of the first cars in 2008. He also said that Connecticut will own 65% of the 342 new cars, and that the State was aiming for a “no-standee” situation.
Mr. Cameron and Mr. McGee raised the question of whether the specifications provide for participation by Connecticut minority- and female-owned businesses, because the specifications appear to reference such businesses in New York. There was no clear answer. Mr. Cameron noted that the three bidders have assembly sites in New York State. He asked whether there was some way to get a substantial portion of the work done in Connecticut, since Connecticut is paying for 65% of the cars.
Mr. Cameron raised the question of the M-7’s on the Harlem and Hudson lines drawing an excessive amount of power, and asked whether the 3rd rail portion of the New Haven line from Woodlawn Junction to Pelham was adequate to supply the necessary power to the new M-8’s. Mr. Colonese said the answer was “yes” and that the AC power available will also be adequate.
Mr. Colonese said that the main thrust of the new M-8’s is to have them usable on the New Haven line and on Shore Line East. Joe McGee raised the question of their usability into Penn Station, because of the need for Connecticut to draw from labor pools on Long Island and in New Jersey. Bob Jelley mentioned the issue that he had previously raised of the possibility of a shuttle between New Rochelle and a new station at Sunnyside. Mr. Cameron also asked about getting M-8’s into Penn Station. In response, Mr. Colonese said that the New Rochelle interlocking between the New Haven line and the Amtrak Hell Gate Bridge line was being reconfigured so that there will be four tracks at the New Rochelle station, rather than the present five, but he went on to say that three tracks will platform as at present. He also said that there is a problem with getting M-8’s into Penn Station, because the catenary power to Penn Station is different from that on the New Haven line and would require a third transformer on M-8 cars. If third-rail power were used into Penn Station, the third rail shoe would have to be able to push up against the third rail on the New Haven line into Grand Central and down against the third rail on the tracks into Penn Station.
Mr. McGee raised the question of energy conservation. He asked whether CDOT shouldn’t be insisting on looking at better propulsion systems than the M-7. Mr. Colonese said that everything was being looked at.
MAIN LINE ISSUES
Mr. Colonese commented on the high winds on the previous weekend and on the morning of this meeting. There were a number of trees down on the tracks, particularly on the New Canaan branch, and buses were substituting for trains on the branch. There was a tree down on the tracks in the Bronx this morning, and it took a long time to clear the tracks. Steve DiSalvo reported that the 7:06 from Milford reached Grand Central about 11:00. He also reported that communications from conductors were good, and that people had been let off the train at Port Chester so that they could return home, if they wished.
SHORE LINE EAST
Bob Jelley reported for Lee Carlson that in the recent week or two, some afternoon and evening trains have ceased to operate because of problems with electrical conditions between the cab car and the pushing locomotive. Mr. Richter reported that locomotive 842 was the problem and that he was hoping to replace it with another locomotive on the following day. Mr. Chabot pressed Mr. Richter to be sure that this happened.
NEW CANAAN BRANCH
It was reported that on the previous Saturday evening during the high winds, a New Canaan branch train had been stranded between fallen trees, and that the New Canaan police had been extremely helpful in evacuating passengers and leading them through the woods to the road. It was further reported that there had been no fallen tree problems on the Danbury and Waterbury branches.
LABOR NEGOTIATIONS
Mr. Colonese reported that Metro North has reached a contract settlement with only one of its unions and that 16 unions representing 70% of the work force are without a contract. Mr. Cameron asked whether Connecticut DOT has any say in the negotiations and Mr. Colonese said that Connecticut operations were only 25% of the full Metro North system. Mr. Jelley raised the question of the MTA’s New York City Transit negotiations, which had led to the three-day strike in the week before Christmas. He said that newspaper articles reporting on the negotiations had suggested to him that the MTA had not handled the negotiations well. He said that it was important not to have the same problem with Metro North negotiations. Mr. Colonese said that CDOT will in the future be more involved in Metro North labor negotiations.
STAMFORD STATION AND PARKING GARAGE
Thomas Bruccoleri, Transportation Planner for the City of Stamford, spoke of the City’s study to turn the Stamford Railroad Station into a real transportation center. Mr. Chabot suggested that the Connecticut limousine service should pick up and drop off passengers at the railroad station rather than at the Marriott Hotel. Mr. McGee suggested that DOT and Metro North should look at how the station operates, and expressed his opinion that the stairs going down from the platforms are dangerous. Mr. Bruccoleri noted that the Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to build a new building near the station, and construction workers will need parking. Mr. Cameron suggested that workers should take the train. Mr. Chabot said that the stairway from the waiting room down to the platform between tracks 3 and 5 had step edges broken off.
Mr. Chabot mentioned Mark Ginocchio’s article in the Advocate about necessary repairs in the garage. The article speaks of poor signage in the new garage and painted stop signs on the floor being obliterated. It also speaks of the old garage still in disrepair. Mr. Colonese announced that a consulting firm, Desmond Associates, is doing a conditions assessment in the old garage. If there are safety concerns, they will be addressed immediately. Mr. Cameron asked whether Desmond was looking at the overpass from the new garage to the platform, which becomes slippery when wet, and Mr. Colonese said he did not know.
Mr. Cameron said that there was still a problem with queuing of taxis at the station and Mr. Colonese said it would be looked at. It was reported that merchants in the station want signs to indicate their presence, and that the DOT is not sure that it can permit signs.
The issue was raised about the advertisement before Christmas saying that there were 400 monthly parking spaces available. It turned out that the spaces were only for daily parking, not monthly parkers. Mr. Richter said that the ad was wrong. Mr. McGee said that there continues to be a problem with pigeons nesting in the station.
NEW MATTERS
Mr. Jelley noted that morning on-peak fares out of Grand Central Terminal had been in effect for almost a year, and wondered whether the effect on ridership had been studied. He raised the question of whether morning on-peak fares out of Grand Central were inhibiting the ability of Connecticut employers to attract lower paid workers from New York and New Jersey. Mr. Colonese said that he would report on this at a subsequent meeting.
Mr. DiSalvo asked when the Milford station would be finished.
The meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm.
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 15 at 6:00 p.m. at Union Station, New Haven.
Bob Jelley
Secretary
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