Trying to put safety back on track

Metro-North safety concerns were given a tragic exclamation point this month when a track worker was killed just days after the unveiling of a 100-day plan to improve rail safety.

Joseph J. Giuletti became the railroad”™s new president in February and announced the plan this month as a response to a tumultuous stretch for the railroad that included two derailments and power outages that interrupted service. The plan outlined four major steps: promoting a culture of safety, adopting concrete safety enhancements, restoring reliable service and improving communications.

But less than a week after that announcement, on March 10, a Metro-North worker was struck and killed in Harlem by a Poughkeepsie-bound train. That was the latest in a string of tragedies on the Metro-North”™s three rail lines ”“ the Harlem, Hudson and New Haven, which runs into Connecticut.

In May 2013, a track foreman was struck and killed in West Haven, Conn. A New Haven line train derailed last year and a Hudson Line train reportedly speeding excessively jumped a track, killing four and leaving 100 others injured in the Bronx.

The Federal Railroad Administration is conducting a “Deep Dive” investigation, assigning 50 experts in railroad operations and safety to observe the day-to-day operations of the railroad for 60 days and to submit a report. That report is due March 17.

James Redeker, the Connecticut Department of Transportation commissioner, said his department has a vested interest in monitoring how federal dollars are spent on the rails. The state has already invested $18 million on upgrades to the tracks, Redeker said.

Service has been gradually improving on the Metro-North, Redeker added. A month ago, 80 percent of the trains were considered on time. This month that number increased to 90 percent, he said.

Redeker said that Metro-North administrators were involved in listening sessions organized by the Connecticut Department of Transportation last month, at which the public was invited to voice their concerns to state-level transportation authorities.

“We want to include a more public component so people understand what our roles and responsibilities are and there”™s transparency on the outcomes and measures we are or aren”™t achieving,” Redeker said. “When things go well you don”™t think about that. But we”™re in a different spot now. It”™s the right thing to do and necessary thing to do.”

Two ”˜speakout”™ events were held last month in Southport and Stamford, Conn. About 200 commuters participated. Several addressed the impact on businesses. Some realtors in Connecticut said they”™re losing closings because out-of-state clients are reluctant to buy houses after hearing about the rail issues, said Jim Cameron, founder of the Commuter Action Group, a web forum where commuters can share their qualms about Metro-North and exchange information about service changes and delays.

“No one wants to live someplace where when you turn on the tap, water doesn”™t come out,” Cameron said. “No one can afford to live in a place where the train is unreliable and will be running slow for decades to come. If people aren”™t moving here, demand drops, prices drop and taxes have to rise to meet the cost of diminished property values.”

Lawmakers and officials are receiving complaint emails and phone calls, which got the attention of the federal government. Some commuters have even resorted to “civil disobedience” by boycotting train tickets, but that”™s not the solution, Cameron said.

“People in the legislature, including the governor, who are protesting and screaming at Metro-North, are the same people responsible for the problems we”™re in,” Cameron said.

With travel disruptions happening during an election year, “commuters will remember come November if you”™re not helping in the winter of discontent,” he said.