The president of Metro-North told Governor Dannel Malloy that the commuter rail line cannot reach its target of 95 percent on-time service, and that the best way to achieve the goal of punctuality is to continue to rebuild the rail system.
Joseph Giulietti, president of the rail line, cited improvements that put safety ahead of reliable schedules, according to a report in The Connecticut Post. The deadline was set last month by Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker.
From the article:
"I still cannot commit to an overall performance goal of 95 percent," Giulietti wrote in a letter to Malloy released Monday. "While it is essential to improve our performance and make our service reliable, the best way to achieve that goal is to continue to rebuild our rail system." ... "There is still a significant amount of infrastructure work to be done on the New Haven Line and want to ensure that it is performed quickly and safely without the pressure of meeting an on-time performance stretch goal," Giulietti wrote to Redeker.
Metro-North hit a 94.7 percent on-time performance in September, but on-time performance on the New Haven line slipped to 86.7 percent in October. Giulietti said it was due to increased track work in advance of winter.
State transportation spokesman Judd Everhart said Monday the agency will review the letter.
MetroCard Coding Error Causes Commuter Problems
In other regional transportation news, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority blamed a MetroCard coding error for the hassles thousands of commuters experienced on Monday.
Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road commuters who signed up for the Mail and Ride program got messages indicating "insufficient fare" when they swiped their MetroCards at turnstiles. The MTA said the glitch affected 2,800 Metro-North and 7,200 Long Island Rail Road riders who get the cards with their monthly railroad tickets.
The agency has advised customers to purchase a new unlimited MetroCard. They will be issued a credit for $119 to their Mail and Ride account for the month of December.
This report includes information from The Associated Press.
