METRO NORTH NEW HAVEN RAIL COMMUTER COUNCIL

(Established in 1985 under Connecticut Public Act 85-239, now Sections 13b-212b and -212c of the Connecticut General Statutes)

 

MINUTES OF OCTOBER 19, 2005 MEETING

AT UNION STATION

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT

 

The meeting began at 6:00 pm.

 

Present were:  Chairman Rodney Chabot, Vice Chairman Jim Cameron, Bob Jelley, Peter Myers, and Ed Zimmerman, Members of the Council; Gene Colonese, Jeff Watson, and Joe Kanell, Metro North Railroad; Carl Bard, Jim Boyce, Peter Richter and Carmine Trotta, Connecticut DOT; Len Boyle, Dept. of Public Safety; Sean McLaughlin, MTA Police; Mark Ginocchio, Stamford Advocate; Sue Prossi, SWERPA; Lee Carlson, SLERA; Larry Uydess and Mrs. Peter Myers, Members of the Public.

 

The Minutes of the September 21, 2005 meeting were approved.

 

Sue Prosi announced several meetings to be held in the coming month. 

 

MONTHLY OPERATIONS REPORT

 

Gene Colonese commented on the increases in ridership shown on the Report.  Lee Carlson asked how the Report indicated the number of canceled Shore Line East trains, and after some discussion, Mr. Colonese agreed that in the future the number of canceled trains will be shown.  In answer to a question from Bob Jelley about how Metro North ridership is determined, Mr. Colonese said that it was based on number of ticket sales and a formula, which he said he would furnish. 

 

Peter Richter reported on the difficulties of getting the Virginia cab cars reconditioned for use on Shore Line East.  He said that he was asking Amtrak to do the work. 

 

PUBLIC SAFETY ON TRAINS

 

Len Boyle, Commissioner of Public Safety for the State of Connecticut, spoke about the Department of Public Safety’s efforts to increase public safety on trains. 

 

He said that terrorists tend to do the things that have worked in the past. 

 

He said that when there is a threat or something happens, the Department goes on heightened alert.  It coordinates with New York State troopers.  He said that State Troopers from both States have authority to act in both states.  He described training in behavioral profiles as a way of identifying potential terrorists.  He also described the use of bomb dogs, primarily on platforms. 

 

He said that the State Police have much better intelligence information in the last eight to twelve months than they previously had.  He said that the FBI in New Haven has an intelligence unit comprised of members of the FBI, the CIA, the Connecticut State Police and municipal police.  He said that a combined unit was particularly effective because different pieces of intelligence information tend to come from different sources.

 

In answer to a question about why the State of New York decided to institute bag searches but Connecticut did not, he said that in the crowded conditions in New York, behavior profiling doesn’t work very well, whereas in the less-crowded conditions in Connecticut, it does.

 

With respect to long-term plans, he said that the State Police were planning a critical infrastructure security assessment, that would include not only railroads but also bus terminals, for example.  He also said that State Police were developing mass transit specialists who would work at mass transit locations everyday, rather than gearing up for threats or incidents. 

 

Jim Cameron stated that he thought that it was a mistake not to do random bag checks in Connecticut.  Commissioner Boyle said that among other problems with random bag checks, there was concern that if a bag check caught one terrorist, other terrorists in the group would detonate their explosives. 

 

Rodney Chabot asked why the Department did not concentrate on Arabs.  The Commissioner said that physical characteristics can be taken into consideration in profiling, but he also added that Arabs can be hard to identify.  

 

In answer to a question from Jim Cameron, Commissioner Boyle said that heightened security on the railroads takes troopers off I-91.  But he added that the National Guard was also used this summer.  He also noted that additional troopers are being trained and would be deployed in the coming months.

 

SHORE LINE EAST

 

Lee Carlson reported that on afternoon Metro North trains beginning at State Street, conductors continued to only open the door in the front car.  Jon Kanell said that he would take care of that problem.  Mr. Carlson asked if the State was planning to switch from Amtrak to Metro North as the operator of Shore Line East and Peter Richter said there was no such plan. 

 

DANBURY BRANCH

 

Rodney Chabot reported on the meeting that he went to the previous day, dealing with the study of the reelectrification of the Danbury line.  He said that the contract for putting signals on the Danbury branch will go out to bid next spring.  He reported that there is increased demand for reverse commuting on the Danbury branch.  Carmine Trotta reported on the various options being discussed for the study of electrification.  A full presentation on the Danbury Branch Study will be made for the Council at its November meeting.

 

NEW CANAAN BRANCH

 

Mr. Richter reported that additional town-owned property at the Talmadge Hill station will be held for parking use, but he said that it was not clear if the Town was required to pave it for parking. 

 

PARKING AT STATIONS

 

In light of a 6 – 8 % surge in ridership provoked by higher gasoline prices, Mr. Cameron asked what DOT was doing to increase parking at stations.  After some discussion, Mr. Jelley suggested it might be useful to make spaces a little narrower.  Ms. Prosi said that some portions of some parking lots were being re-striped to make the spaces narrower.  Jim Boyce reported that the Department was working on an additional parking garage in New Haven. 

 

MILFORD STATION

 

Peter Meyers said that the Milford station was still not complete after five years.  Peter Richter said that work is moving along. 

 

DESIGN OF NEW CARS FOR NEW HAVEN LINE

 

Mr. Richter reported that Metro North and CDOT have received responses from four prospective builders, Alstom, Bombardier, Calowski, and Siemans.  He said that there is a plan to issue technical or performance specifications by November, so that prospective builders can design cars to meet the specs.  In answer to a question about power consumption of the existing M-7s, he said that Metro North and DOT were looking into that matter and would not sacrifice efficiency for standardization.   

 

LOCOMOTIVES LEASE FROM AMTRAK

 

Mr. Richter reported that some of the new locomotives were already in service.  In answer to a question, Mr. Richter repeated that the CDOT was having trouble finding companies willing to do the necessary work to put the remaining Virginia cab-cars into service. 

 

NEW NEW HAVEN REPAIR SHOP

 

Mr. Richter reported that the repair shop will not be finished and useable until June, 2006.  That means that it cannot be used for repair work this winter. 

 

AMTRAK GRADE CROSSING ACCIDENT IN WATERFORD IN OCTOBER

 

In answer to questions, Mr. Richter said that the grade crossing was equipped with four gates.  He said that Amtrak has not finished its investigation, but it is his understanding that the automobile drifted under the gates just as the train arrived at the crossing. 

 

NEW LATE NIGHT TRAINS

 

Mr. Colonese gave preliminary figures on the popularity of the new late night rains that began at the beginning of October. 

 

The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

 

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. at SACIA in Stamford.

 

Bob Jelley

Secretary

 

 

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