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 FEBRUARY 24, 2010
SWRPA
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT
Present were: Jim Cameron, Chairman; Sue Prosi, Bob Jelley, Drew Todd, Rodney Chabot, Roger Cirella, Jack Tastani, John Hartwell, Terri Cronin, Luke Schmirring, Jeff Maron, and Jeff Steele, members of the Council; CDOT Commissioner Joe Marie and Jim Redecker, DOT; Dan O’Connell, John Longobardi, Anthony Lato, and Jim McCormack, Metro North Railroad; Jim McKenna, MTA Police Department; John Crandall, Clever Commute; MaryKay Frost, Fairfield Parking Authority; John Austin, Richard Stowe, and Paul Hammer, members of the public.
The Minutes of the January meeting were approved.
There was discussion of ticket window closings, and the DOT said that the New Canaan and Westport windows will be closed and that the Darien ticket window is already closed. There was discussion of the difficulty in buying student tickets without open ticket windows, and Jim Cameron said that at least one private school had been given permission to sell student tickets.
Jim Redecker said that no fare increase hearings were yet planned by the DOT.
SERVICE CUTS
Dan O’Connell from Metro North said that the three service cuts proposed for the New Haven line had not been approved by DOT. He went on to say that cutting the three trains would save $900,000 per year on the New Haven line. He said that train lengths may be cut, because Metro North is eliminating the 87% occupancy rule and will look at using 95% occupancy as the expectation for a “full” car.
Bob Jelley said that it was his view that cutting the weekday 1:34 pm from GCT to New Haven and the weekday 2:33 pm from New Haven to GCT would not be particularly painful. He said that the 1:34 pm was the beginning of ½ hour service from GCT and that cutting it delayed ½ hour service until the 2:34. He said that the 2:33 pm was followed 19 minutes later by the 2:52 pm. But he expressed concern about the elimination of the weekday and weekend 1:15 am local from GCT to Stamford. He said that the elimination of that train left a 1 ½ hour gap in the after midnight schedule. He suggested that if it were to be eliminated, the 1:12 am GCT to New Haven, which runs express to Stamford, should add a Greenwich stop. Mr. O’Connell said that he looked with approval at that suggestion. In answer to a question, Mr. O’Connell said that trains are never lengthened or shortened in the course of a day.
Richard Stowe suggested that additional late night express trains to Stamford should have a Greenwich stop.
Richard Stowe suggested that additional late-night express trains should add Greenwich stops. CUT-duplicate
CDOT Commissioner Marie indicated that, at the direction of Governor Rell, his agency was still planning to oppose any service cuts by MNR in Connecticut.
STAMFORD GARAGE
Jeff Maron said that, following up on a December site visit with CDOT, the person in charge of operating the garage had not yet gotten back to anyone with a list of signage and other changes to improve traffic flow in the garage. Mr. Redecker agreed.
BRANCH LINES
Rodney Chabot spoke about the New Canaan / Waterbury study. He said that the consultant and the DOT have appeared to reach good decisions. He said he thought the idea of a passing siding in Springdale was a good idea. He said that there was also a proposal for passing sidings on the Waterbury line. Mr. Redecker said that the federal government will not grant a waiver for the need of signals and positive train control on the Waterbury line, so that in order to maintain the present service, it will be necessary to install positive train control.
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS
CDOT Commissioner Marie said that the plans for infrastructure preservation already contracted for are underfunded by $4 billion. As a result the DOT must concentrate on fixing existing infrastructure before it can begin building anything new. He said that over the next 5-10 years, it is unlikely that there will be any highway improvements but that there will be some railroad
improvements, like two-sided stations on Shore Line East and necessary improvements on the branch lines.
Jim Cameron said that Connecticut applied for over $600 million in grants from the federal government and got nothing. The government funded only 50 projects out of 14,000 applications. Commissioner Marie said that the Department had worked hard on the applications and speculated that perhaps the government had given grants to areas that are poorer than Connecticut.
MONTHLY OPERATING REPORTS
Mr. Cameron said that he thought MNR had done a good job with train service during the recent bad weather and storm. Dan O’Connell and Jim McCormick from Metro North said that they thought the Long Island Railroad had done a particularly good job on making train changes during the last storm. He said that Metro North will do better the next time.
BICYCLES ON TRAINS
There was a presentation about the usefulness of permitting bicycles on commuter trains. There was discussion about folding bicycles. Sue Prosi said that some consideration was being given to bicycles on commuter trains in Connecticut.
“CLEVER COMMUTE”
Josh Crandall of Clever Commute explained his operation of Clever Commute and said that he used advertising revenues to pay for it. There was some discussion of the need to filter the words used by some commuters in sending messages about problems, in order not to exaggerate problems or alarm commuters.
SPRINGFIELD LINE
Mr. Chabot commented about the State getting $40 million to double-track a portion of the Springfield line. Commissioner Marie said that double-tracking will aid not only commuter service but also Amtrak’s intercity service, because Amtrak knows that it needs a reliable inland route between New Haven and Boston. He said that the desired standard was hourly intercity service and half-hourly commuter service. Commissioner Marie said that he thought that Connecticut would establish commuter service on the Springfield line before California and Florida were able to establish the commuter service that they’re planning.
In answer to a question, Commissioner Marie said that he thought that one rail council for all of the commuter service in Connecticut was the right approach, as opposed to a separate rail council for the Springfield line.
NEW LONDON SERVICE
Commissioner Marie said that it had been hard to get the additional one train in each direction to New London, because of the bridge closing problem. The Department had requested 5 additional round trips daily. He said that there would be new trains to New London in May.
METRO CENTER STATION
Jeff Steele asked about progress on the new Metro Center station in Fairfield. Commissioner Marie said that there will be a 1,250 car surface parking lot. He said that it would be owned by the State and all revenues would come to the State. He said that money for creating the lot will come from the developer, the Town of Fairfield and the State.
The meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm. The next meeting will take place on April 21, 2010 at 6:00 pm on the 11th floor of the Graybar Building at GCT.
Bob Jelley
Secretary
Phone: (203) 498-4306
E-mail: rjelley@wiggin.com
