CT Rail Commuter Council: 'Snubbed by Metro-North'

By Michael Dinan

The Connecticut Commuter Council has issued a warning to New Haven Line commuters about where the money would come from to pay for refunds since an electrical outage upended regular service last Wednesday, Sept. 25.

On Thursday, Sept. 26, service accommodated just 33% of regular ridership, sending commuters scrambling for alternatives, and the MTA suggesting customers stay at home.  

By Monday, Sept. 30, the capacity increased to 50% of regular service. 
 
As of Friday, Oct. 4, the New Haven Line service remains at 65% of capacity. The temporary schedule is available on the MTA schedules page.  See service details.  See Free Emergency Park & Ride Info.

Service is not expected to return to 100% capacity until Monday Oct. 7, by which time Con Ed expects to reconnect a high voltage transmission feeder.

Since commuters have paid train fares for service that is not available, Gov. Malloy and other officials have called on MTA to issue ticket refunds. 

James Cameron, Chairman of the CT Commuter Council, a group created by the state legislature 25 years ago to give voice to train commuters, said the current situation harkens back to July 2011, when a New Haven line train was stranded in Westport. Passengers waited in the 105-plus degree heat, and began to feel the effects of heat exhaustion, some panicked and dialed 911. 

Since the July 2011 incident in Westport, Cameron said the Council has discussed riders’ expectations, codifying them into a proposed “Rail Passengers Bill of Rights”. 

The Council started out with input from their Facebook site and distilled commuter's "wish list" into a seven-point plan. But, according to Cameron, "When the Council asked Metro-North and the CT DOT for their reaction to the draft, they got a surprise. Metro-North didn’t give us the courtesy of a reply."

"And when we asked them at our October 19th meeting for verbal comments, they had none," continued Cameron. "Further, they told us they were drafting their own Rail Passenger Bill of Rights.”

On the topic of refunds, Cameron said that while, "Metro-North says the refund money will come from operating expenses, those expenses are subsidized 65% by CT and 35% by NY State.  That means that 65% of the refunds to CT riders will be paid for, not by Metro-North, but by CT taxpayers."

What is your opinion on MTA refunds for lost New Haven Line train service? Tell us in the comments.