Commuters paying for decades of neglect. Town next?

Anyone who commutes to NYC has noticed the dramatic change in service quality the past thirty days. No surprise this is attributed to the snow and cold we have been subject to. From a letter Howard Permut President of MTA Metro-North Railroad posted on the Metro North web site: http://www.mta.info/news/stories/?story=186

The extreme winter weather’s repeated pummeling of the region has had a devastating impact on our New Haven Line.

Significant car shortages due to record-breaking amounts of snow and extreme cold have forced us to operate all our trains with fewer than scheduled cars. We have also had to cancel trains which exacerbate the problem and reduce the reliability of your commute.


The situation is dire. On a daily basis, there are close to 150 (40%) cars out of service on the New Haven Line. Our employees are working around-the-clock to get damaged equipment back into service. However, with each new weather event, more weather-damaged cars arrive in our shops in need of repair. The service we have been providing has been far less than what you have come to expect from us and we strive to provide you. It is time for us to take additional steps to improve our reliability.
The problems with our fleet created by its age—almost 70 percent of our electric fleet is over 40 years old—and the unprecedented winter weather are numerous. The cars were designed in a manner that made key components extremely vulnerable to snow. These components include: 

• Traction motors, which must be repaired or replaced – a job that routinely takes six or more hours to complete.
• Brakes, which freeze and get stuck from the extreme cold.
• Doors, which won’t close properly because the snow and ice that gets inside the door pockets prevents them from opening or closing on command.

 And why are commuters on the New Haven line suffering much greater service degradation than commuters on the Hudson and Harlem River lines as well as the Long Island Rail Road? Simple. For years the Connecticut state legislature has used the funds "allocated" for the New Haven line for other items. As Bob Duff put it, the money has been "swept" to the general fund.

We think a similar scenario is playing out in Darien. For years the Board of Ed has refused to rein in its budget. This puts pressure on the town budget. But the math is difficult. Education consumes almost 75% of town spending. When 75% of the budget grows 4% to 5% per year and the goal is to keep total spending closer to inflation, about 2% a year, the result is tremendous pressure on the 25% of town spending controlled by the Board of Selectman.

In a few years will we look at our beaches and police and fire infrastructure and wonder why nothing works like it should? If we do, we only have ourselves to blame and our myopia and unwillingness to restrain the Board of Ed.