MINUTES
CONNECTICUT METRO-NORTH SHORE�
LINE EAST COMMUTER COUNCIL MEETING
SACIA Offices, Stamford,Conn.
December 18, 2002
The minutes of the
November 20 meeting were accepted with the following change.� Train delays on SLE were due to construction
and tie work.
OLD BUSINESS:
1.������ Shore Line East: ��Tunnel work on track 2 will start in January
and is expected to take 5-6 weeks.�
Permanent information system at State St. Station� should be in place by the end of
January.� On train 3638 of December 18
only two doors were opened at State St. for 100 passengers and tickets were not
collected east of State St..� It was
explained the train was under staffed.
2.������ Waterbury Branch:� �28
bus trips in November including buses necessary for the bridgework
project.� At Waterbury station the two
telephones are often out of service due to vandalism and question was asked if
one could be installed in a safer place.
3.������ Danbury Branch: ��5 bus trips in November substituting for
trains.
4.������ Stamford Station: ��New garage to open in April.� Engineers evaluating old garage to determine
what to do with it.� Safety repairs
(poor steps, etc.) are underway.� Five TV
monitors will be in the station facility including one on the walkway from the
new garage but not on the street level from the new garage.� There are only funds available for five
monitors.
5.������ Shop backlog:� �Average daily number of
cars short this month was seven with forty-four in the shop.� The rehab program is moving ahead with completion
of two pairs a month to be reached in January.
6.������ Ticket machine glare:� �Machines will be turned to avoid glare by June.
7.������ New Cars:� "What new cars????", said Mr. Harris.� No decision yet on the type of cars or the
financing and none expected in the short run.
8.������ MN- LIRR merger:� �Harry Harris considers this to be a "done deal" but a study
how to do it has not been started.� CDOT
will ask for a "seat at the table".
9.������ NH Coliseum parking: ��Will close at the end of December.� Parking at Temple St. has begun. Questions
about a new garage at NH station will be answered in January.
10.���� Darien Station: ��Selectmen increased daily parking fee $.25.� All of Darien's share of the fees goes into
the Town's general fund and there is not a clear understanding of how funds are
used for station repairs.� Council will follow
up.� CDOT is studying how funds are used
at all stations.
11.���� MN labor contract: ��Talks are in the early stage. Gene Colonese
does not expect a strike at the end of this year.
NEW BUSINESS:
1.� ���� �Waterbury Station construction: ��The request for bonding funds was turned
down.� At this point nothing further is
occurring.
2.������ GCT shortage of restrooms: ��It was been noticed that this is a severe problem
on weekends.� The Council will write a
letter asking for an improvement.
3.������ Conn. Fare increase: ��A substantial increase in the subsidy will
be needed over the next two years just to maintain existing service.� How this will be achieved will not be know
until the new budget is set but with the State's deficit we should expect a
fare increase.� After discussion of the Council's
long standing support of small regular fare increases, it was
agreed that we
would review this position at a future meeting.
4.������ Ticket collection:� �MN
reviews this problem on a regular basis.�
At times trains are short crews or have unexpected riders which leads to
uncollected tickets.� Seat checks are
not used on all trains.
5.������ Other:�
�Discussion of the Transportation
Strategy Board's report and its lack of new rail equipment for trains going to
GCT until 2012 and 2013. �This equipment
will only replace the M2 cars and not provide for an expansion of service.� In addition Harry Harris spoke of a $3
billion capital need over the next eleven years (to 2014) with only $1.2
billion funded.�
Respectfully
submitted,
The following were
present:
>From the
Council: Rodney Chabot, Chairman,� Jim
Cameron, Vice Chairman,� Ed Zimmerman,
Peter Marcuse,� Lee Carlson, Peter
Millard,� Carl Leaman,� Bob Jelley,�
Jeff Maron,� Joe Mc Gee
>From CDOT:
Harry Harris, Ray Cox, Mike Donnarumma
>From
Metro-North: Gene Colonese, Fred Chichester
>From
Amtrak:� Gary Gilbert
>From the
public: Scott Crosby, Darien resident
