March 21, 2001
- New Haven Station
1. Minutes of the February Meeting were
approved.
OLD BUSINESS:
Shore Line East Service was 98.2% on time during
February, with an average of 229 daily passengers, it was reported. Performance was rated as good, but Lee
Carlson noted that Solari boards are still not functioning properly on the
underground concourse to platforms at New Haven station; Fred Chichester said
the boards are controlled by AMTRAK, which is working on the program problem
that results in some boards not working.
Joan Ventrilio said train announcements are made only in the station,
which doesn’t help through passengers.
Lee Carlson noted that the AMTRAK remittance office
was closed for several days, preventing conductors from obtaining receipts for
issuance to passengers. Jim Turngren
said the closure did not prevent conductors from issuing tickets bought on the
trains.
Mr. Carlson indicated that confusion about which
track Shore Line East trains are operating on necessitates morning commuters
having to cross tracks in Madison and other stations on which high-speed Acela
trains are operating. It was agreed
that this creates a most dangerous situation, even though Acela train speeds
are reduced in this area. Amtrak’s
Turngren reassured the Council that his trains always protect stations when the
dispatcher knows commuters may be crossing the tracks to board another train.
There was discussion of a rockslide that severely
damaged several piece of equipment and rolling stock. Repair of one ten-year-old cab-car unit will cost about $700,000
against a replacement cost of $1.5 million, Harry Harris said, and a decision
must be made as to which course to take in this tight-budget time. Repairs to the engine were done in the New
Haven shops but totaled $100,000.
Harris noted that CDOT doesn’t have insurance for such mishaps, but
“self-insures”.
3. Waterbury
Branch Line service has been impacted this month by two equipment failures, one
of which resulted in the annulment of Train #6961 and the other in the dispatch
of a Metro North replacement engine from Croton Harmon.
4. There was
a March 20 equipment problem on the Danbury Branch Line that necessitated the
use of buses. Mr. Harris cited three
scheduled developments affecting the line:
(1) the long-awaited installation of a CTC signal system will begin in
several weeks, with completion in two years.
Besides adding to safety, this will allow more than one train to operate
at a time, with improved scheduling.
(2) CDOT will receive consultants’ bids March 30 for a planned study of
the line’s re-electrification. The selection process will take about two weeks,
he said, and the study should be completed about 45 days thereafter at a cost
of about $2 million. (3) Additional
buses will be added to carry Danbury and Ridgefield commuters to the Brewster
and Katonah Metro North Harlem Division stations, which offer shorter running
times to New York City.
Questioned whether this would draw passengers from
the Danbury Branch, Mr. Harris said the buses will draw only from Danbury and
Ridgefield, and that the present "geometry" of the Danbury Line, with
its many curves, precludes running times to Grand Central Terminal comparable
to those on the Harlem Division. This issue of straightening the tracks will
also be part of the consultant’s review.
5. Discussion
of diesel engine idling in Danbury, as necessitated by the shortage of
electrical outlets for the engines, was deferred until Ray Cox’s return in
April.
6. Mr. Harris,
reporting on the Stamford Station rehabilitation, said the new escalators would
begin operation in about two months. Complaints were voiced that platforms
(especially the one serving Track 4) are dangerously narrow, and do not permit
the safe unloading and loading of passengers.
It was suggested that another ramp be added to simplify the flow of
passengers to and from the street to the platform. Plywood on temporary ramps is slippery, it was noted, and needs
to be covered with a slip-free surfacing.
Complaints were voiced about inadequate platform
lighting, signage and canopies, especially over escalators. The need for operative monitors on the
station platforms was emphasized, and Mr. Harris explained the monitors’ cost
is exorbitant, adding materially to cost overruns on the $130 million
project. That budget includes the work
needed to lower the Washington Boulevard underpass, but does not include the
expansion of the garage, he added. The
access to buses at the station will be improved, he said, and Connecticut
Transit is being given an office on the bus level. Final completion of the Stamford station rebuild is at least two
more years away.
7. The usual
discussion of long-delayed station kiosks to provide maps and directions for
travelers brought the announcement that kiosks are to be part of the re-design
of the Darien and Milford stations, now in progress. CDOT promised to give the Council input on those designs before
they are replicated at other stations.
8. A review
of winter operations, which have been marked by few service lapses, brought
renewed discussion of the number of cars out of service for repair, and the
ultimate need for more cars as ridership increases. The New Haven Division has from 37 to 48 cars out of service on
an ongoing basis, and this means that operations are short about ten cars
daily. Trains on shorter runs are
generally those shorted one or two cars, it was stressed, yet M-2 renovations
and the repair of heavily damaged cars will keep availability tight.
Rodney Chabot asked if shop hours and shifts were
being increased to cope with the repair backlog, and was advised that three
shifts are now in place seven days a week.
Mr. Chabot wondered if crews could be expanded to move work through more
quickly.
Mr. Harris cited the recent allocation of $35 million
to purchase four Genesis engines and 10 Bombardier cars, but conceded that
major investments in trains, buses and other transportation facilities confront
the state. Jim Cameron voiced concern
whether the Governor, the Legislature and CDOT were in concert in seeking to
deal with the long-term need to finance replacement rail equipment. The commuter rail issue, Mr. Harris
explained, remains whether to invest in M-8 cars costing $4 million or more
each, or to convert to push-pull trains with an engine at either end. New Haven Division equipment, which combines
overhead and third-rail power sources, is unique in the world, he stressed, and
no supplier exists who is presently eager to produce this equipment for such a
limited market.
Mr. Harris noted that last year the Legislature
appropriated $35 million for new rail equipment, which CDOT used to order 4
Genesis locomotives and 10 Bombardier coaches.
Mr. Harris admitted it probably would not be any less than seven or
eight years before new equipment arrives on the New Haven line.
9. As a
legislative update, Mr. Harris said that the Transportation Strategy Board
presently holds the key to what will occur.
Under its plan, a 15-member agency will be put in place over CDOT, and
will set the course for the future.
There is a growing likelihood, he continued, that the state this year
will have a surplus of from $50 million to $75 million, which will be divided
equally between transportation and education.
Dan Lorimier of the CT Fund for the Environment made
a presentation on the CT Transportation Choices Coalition, which he leads. The Commuter Rail Council is one of 14 such
groups that have joined the Coalition to lobby for improvements in mass transit
before the Legislature. Lorimier
presented the Council with copies of the Coalition’s “Green Paper” on the
issue, which can also be found online at http://www.tstc.org/ct_pap/
NEW BUSINESS:
1. Metro North’s
handling of the March 5-6 storm was reviewed.
Service was reduced by seven trains Monday, March 5, when there was a
30% drop in ridership. Service was
added when many offices closed early that day, and trains for the normal rush
hour were cut back, Gene Colonese disclosed.
There was a 50% drop in Tuesday ridership, he added, and there were few
complaints from commuters.
2. Mr. Harris
reported that CDOT had selected a Salt Lake City firm, F., C. N. & J. to
work with marketing and focus groups on coming service needs. Interviews will be centered at the outset in
Southwest Connecticut.
OTHER NEW BUSINESS. Sketches of the redesigned Darien station, its extended canopy
and its eastbound platform, with canopy and elevators to the street at the east
end, were shown.
Michael Mercuriano, chairman of the West Haven Rail
Road Committee, distributed his committee’s "informational booklet
designed to herald recent successes and letters of support" as his group’s
efforts to bring about a Metro-North station in West Haven. A competing campaign for a station is also
in progress in Orange, where Bayer Corporation has expressed willingness to
accommodate such a station on its plant grounds. Mr. Mercuriano hoped the Council would provide some budgetary
help for his group’s efforts to survey commuter interest but was surprised to
learn that the Legislature provides no budget whatsoever to the Council.
Mr. Harris stressed that no funds currently exist for
building the station, and that any station authorized in the future will
necessarily be contingent on the availability of 1,000 station parking
spaces. This will influence the choice
between West Haven and Orange sites, he said.
He noted that one developer has approached CDOT with a proposal to build
a railroad station, and lease it back to CDOT.
This so-called DBOM (Designed, Built, Operated & Maintained) Concept
might be of interest to Mr. Mercuriano’s group, Mr. Harris implied.
The
meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Secretary
Rodney
Chabot, Chairman Jeffrey Maron, Council Member
Jim
Cameron, Vice Chairman Peter S. Myers, Council
Member
Edward Zimmerman, Secretary Joan Ventrilio, Council Member
Harry Harris, CDOT Jim
Mohs, Council Member
Peter A. Richter, CDOT E. C. Schroeder, SLERA
Eugene J. Colonese, Metro North
Fred N. Chidester
Jr., Metro North
David C. Carmody, Counsel, WHRRC Jon
M. Foster, CDOT
Bob Levy, Rideworks Jim
Turngren, AMTRAK
Dan Lorimier, CT Fund for the Environment Lee Carlson, Council Member
Ted Bowen, Metro North
Michael Mercuriano, Chmn, West Haven
RailroadCommittee
