LIRRCC Disturbed by Penn Station Amtrak Maintenance Issues
The Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council (LIRRCC) is greatly concerned by comments made this morning by Amtrak President and CEO Wick Moorman regarding infrastructure issues that led to two derailments in New York Penn Station over the past two weeks. While we appreciate President Moorman’s candor in acknowledging the maintenance challenges that Amtrak faces, the Council is alarmed that a pattern of deferred maintenance has allowed defects to persist and that Mr. Moorman rates the state of the station’s infrastructure as only “fair.” We recognize that this problem has been years in the making and has a number of contributing factors, but demand that corrective actions be taken as rapidly as possible to restore the reliability and safety of Amtrak facilities that serve Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) commuters.
”Defects like those that led to the two recent Penn Station derailments directly threaten the lives, safety and careers of Long Island commuters. Our members are alarmed that Amtrak’s past lack of resources has created a situation where we cannot be entirely confident in the quality of Amtrak infrastructure that is shared by the LIRR” said LIRRCC
Chair Mark Epstein. “Amtrak owes it to LIRR riders to comprehensively inspect all Amtrak facilities used by the LIRR and confirm that no critical safety issues are present. If any such issues are discovered, they must be remedied immediately. In the longer term, we must hold Amtrak leadership and management, as well as our elected officials,
responsible for ensuring that Amtrak has the resources necessary to bring its infrastructure to a state of good repair.”
Download here: LIRRCC Statement on Amtrak’s Response to Derailment Causes