In attendance: Rodney Chabot,
Council Chair; Carl Leaman, member; Jon Foster, CDOT;
Raymond Cox, CDOT; Harry Harris,
CDOT; Eugene Colonese, MNR; Joseph
Kanell, MNR;
Maurice Kiniry, MNR; Fred Chidester,
MNR; Leighton Carlson, member; Jeff Maron, member;
Hon. Toni Boucher, State
Representative; Sgt. John Mullen, MTA Police; Hon. Alex Knopp, State
Representative;
Bob Hammersley, Governor’s Office;
Joe McGee, member, SACIA.
Meeting called to order at 7:34 PM
by Mr. Chabot.
Minutes of January meeting
approved.
Mr. Colonese reported that a
survey of Waterbury Branch passengers was taken, and that
the result is that the P.M. peak
train will remain on its present schedule.
Mr. Chabot requested that
occurrences of branchline busing be reported monthly.
Mr. Colonese stated that in
January, of 337 trips operated on the Danbury and Waterbury branches, only 9
were by bus.
Mr. Harris reported that trees
will be cleared along the New Canaan branch.
This will
reduce the risk of catenary
damage.
Mr. Harris reported that work on
the Danbury branch signal system will commence shortly.
Expected cost: $22 million. At Congressman Maloney’s recommendation, the
CDOT will
hire a consultant to study Danbury
improvements, including possible re-electrification.
The Transportation Strategy board
recommended the addition of buses from Danbury to
to Brewster, NY and from
Ridgefield to Katonah, NY. A third bus
from another Danbury
branch station is also recommended.
Discussion followed as to whether
busing is the best strategy for the branch.
Mr Harris
said that under present
operations, a bus Ridgefield-Katonah to a train connection would
be cheaper and faster than just
boarding a train for New York at Ridgefield. Rep. Boucher
stressed the importance of
improving service on the branch, and that many of her constituents
in Wilton rely on the train for
their daily commute. Mr. Chabot worried
that busing from
the Danbury branch to the Harlem
line would decrease the branch’s ridership/revenue figures.
Mr. Carlson asked whether monthly
tickets for the New Haven and Harlem lines were interchangeable, the answer was
affirmative.
Mr. Carlson mentioned that the
Solari boards in the subway at New Haven Union Station
were still not working
correctly. Mr. Chidester reported that
improvements will be made.
Mr. Carlson reported an incident
where a Boston passenger boarded a Shore Line East
train in New Haven, as the boards were not working and the crew
failed to announce
the destination of the train
before departure.
Mr. Cox reported that, as
discussed at the January meeting, the ramp from the station to ground
level was improved, a crosswalk marked, crosswalk warning signs were
installed and lighting
improved, making it safer for
passengers to cross the street to the parking lot.
Mr. Cox also reported that trash
was cleaned up aroung the Clinton station and that the
wheelchair lift at Guilford
station was moved back onto the platform.
Mr. Colonese reported that service
improvements in the April 1. timetable will include
the splitting of the 8:07 PM train
from GCT, so that there will be an east end express, stopping
in Greenwich to accommodate CT
riders. There will be 30-minute service on Saturdays, and that
the 3:00 PM Friday getaway train
will commence with the April 1. schedule.
He stated that riders love express trains.
Mr. Leaman stated that earlier
morning service into GCT would be helpful. Mr. Colonese replied
that others had requested an earlier train as well.
Mr. Colonese indicated that
Stamford and White Plains are becoming increasingly important
as destination stations for
commuters from New York City.
Mr. Kiniry, in responding to
complaints about diesels idling in Danbury and GCT, said that
There is insufficient electrical
power at Danbury storage area to put all diesels on electrical
Standby. A move of the storage area to a place inside the loop is being
considered.
Rep. Boucher said that parking at
Wilton will be increased, and that the new lot at
Cannondale station is already
quite full.
Mr. Harris stated that the
westbound center island platform at Stamford is in service, helping
to alleviate congestion. Mr.
Kiniry said that the track 5 platform is used as often as possible.
Mr. Chabot asked about the
possibility of signs or monitors on Stamford station platforms,
so that passengers don’t have to
go upstairs to determine which track their train will use.
Mr. Harris emphasised that work at
Stamford is actually 8 separate projects
and that results
are beginning to be seen, such as
new floors, wall improvements, the installation of 30 security
cameras, and that most of the
escalators are now working. Mr. Leaman commented that due to
the design, snow and rain get into
the building via the escalators, making floors slippery.
Mr. McGee stated that the station
gets very crowded at times and that something must be done to
accommodate increasing station
use. He said that the fence on the
northside platform increases
congestion and that there are only
2 exits from that platform.
In reply to Mr. Chabot’s question,
it was stated that there is no progress on the station kiosk
Project since the original vendor
went out of business.
In discussing winter operations
and shop backlog, Mr. Kiniry said that the New Haven line
Is down 7 cars at present and that
shop forces are working 24/7 . The Dec.
30, 2000 storm
crippled a large number of cars,
but the February storm did not cause as many problems.
Later this year, the M-2 rebuilding
project will begin, posibly as early as this summer. Mr.
Harris said that the equipment
improvement program is coming together quickly and that
the situation has been somewhat
aggravated by a new problem where the M-4 cars’ third
rail shoes. He said that getting some Shore Line East
trains to operate into Fairfield County
would help alleviate the crowding
on trains. There are still labor issues
to be worked out before
this could start. Mr. Cox said that the cost per car for the
rebuilding will be about $750,000., vs
$4,500,000 for a new car. Mr. Carlson asked whether any of the cars
would be converted to be
able to operate on the 25 KV
Amtrak electrification. Mr. Cox replied
that this would cost an
additional $750,000 per car, and
that there are no funds available for that.
This would allow
Metro North trains to operate into
Shore Line East territory. Mr. Harris
said that half of the
New Haven Line equipment is M-2’s,
(242 cars) which are approaching 30 years of age. The
rebuild will extend their
usefulness by about 15 years.
Mr. Harris said that bridges and
catenary must be redone, leaving no capital for more
rolling stock. He said that no decision has been made as to
what new equipment might
be. There’s the possibility of M-8’s and/or push-pull cars. Parsons-Brinkerhoff just
did a study and a 75% draft
arrived at the DOT yesterday. Rep.
Boucher said that we
must also be aware of the
additonal costs of building facilities to accommodate the new
equipment. Mr. McGee asked whether the current capacity of yards
and maintenance
now planned would accommodate the
equipment. Mr. Cox said that the new
yard and
shops under construction in New
Haven, at a cost of $60,000,000. This
should be able
to accommodate needs for some
time. Mr. McGee stressed the importance
of getting the
work done, as complaints are
increasing along with ridership.
The new Darien station was
discussed. It was stated that it will be similar to the New Canaan
station. About 60 parking spaces will be added.
In queries about the 2 wires down
incidents, on January 16 and February 18, it was disclosed
That there were 2 distinct causes:
January was caused by the failure of a cupola insulator in
The trolley wire. The manufacturer is being consulted, as this
is new catenary. The February
incident occurred due to a
pantograph problem, as a shoe bolt failed.
All cars are being
inspected.
Mr. Cox said that bridge improvements are being done at the same time as
catenary sections
in the same area are being replaced,
so the same track territory won’t have to be taken out
of service twice. Mr. McGee asked
whether this is being done in a timely fashion, and is the
work not being done quicker due to
budget constraints. Mr. Cox replied
that too many sections
can’t be taken out at the same
time without adverse effect on train schedules.
Discussion ensued as to how people
should be notified of future emergencies. Rep. Boucher
suggested that a standard
emergency procedure should be implemented. Mr. Kiniry said
that Metro North’s emergency book
spells out how to handle crises. Rep.
Boucher
said how important it is to notify
riders with correct and timely information.
Mr. Kiniry
stated that Metro North will work
to improve the conveying of information.
Rep. Boucher reported that the
public hearing held by the Transportation Committee of the
Legislature showed enormous
interests from all areas of the state, especially on improving
public transportation. Among the ideas receiving the strongest
support were expansion of
Shore Line East service, the new
passenger station in West Haven/Orange,
implementation
of commuter rail service on the
New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line. In
Rep. Boucher’s
words; “Expansion, expansion, expansion!”
She said that one of the Legislature’s
responsibilities would be to demonstrate the benefit
to residents by the expenditures
involved.
The meeting was adjourned by Mr.
Chabot at 10:54 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
NEW HAVEN
UNION STATION, D.O.T. OFFICES, 4TH FLOOR WEST.
