Opinion: More Progress Needed on Metro-North Improvements

By State Sen. Toni Boucher

A Metro-North Train derailed in New Canaan on Thursday morning. Fortunately, no passengers were aboard, and no staff suffered injuries, yet the incident is still a worrisome echo of the problems which have plagued Metro North over the past few years and which the railroad has been working hard to overcome with new leadership, training and safety procedures.

Although progress has been made with regard to safety and the DOT did the right thing by classifying a minor nonlife threatening incident as a derailment, any occurrence of this kind should be taken very seriously and full disclosure of the investigations results provided.

Of particular concern is that if the New Canaan Line, which is relatively up-to-date, should have suffered a derailment, what about the other branch lines operating on older technology? Although nobody was hurt, commuters still encountered delays while Metro-North worked to restore service.

As the Ranking Member of the Transportation Committee, I will continue to monitor this situation closely to ensure that Metro-North is taking the necessary precautions to prevent it from occurring in the future.