A former chairman of the Metro-North commuter council launched the Commuter Action Group Monday to protest what he calls  “the culture of incompetence and unaccountability” at Metro-North.
Encouraging commuters to post every issue they encounter on social media, former rail councilmen Jim Cameron said it was time to harness the power of the internet to incite systemic change.
“Complaining to Metro-North or the (Connecticut Department of Transportation) has proven a waste of time,” Cameron said. “They don’t listen and they don’t care. They seem responsive and responsible to nobody”¦ except lawmakers.”
Over the last couple months, a string of incidences at Metro-North have disrupted service for days, including two major derailments killing four and injured more than 100 passengers.
Using the action group’s website and pages for Twitter and Facebook, Cameron is urging commuter to voice their complaints and copy them to legislators. A manifesto demanding safety, improved communication and transparency has also been posted to a station wall.
“If there”™s no heat on your train, report it,” Cameron said. “If it”™s consistently late, report it.”
“The railroad and CDOT may be able to ignore commuters, but they can”™t ignore legislators who control their purse-strings,” he added. “And those elected officials had better listen to their constituents or risk losing their jobs.”
