LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD COMMUTER COUNCIL
MINUTES OF JANUARY 9, 2014
A meeting of the Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council (LIRRCC) was convened at 4:30 p.m. on January 9, 2014, in the LIRR East Side Access Readiness Conference Room at 450 7th Avenue, 20th Floor, New York City.
The following members were present:
Gerard P. Bringmann Matthew Kessler
Sheila Carpenter Maureen Michaels
Mark Epstein Bryan Peranzo
Ira Greenberg Larry Rubinstein
The following members were absent:
Owen Costello Michael Godino
Raymond Pagano
In addition, the following persons were present:
William Henderson -PCAC Executive Director
Angela Bellisio -PCAC Transportation Planner
Hector Garcia -LIRR
Chris Calvagna -LIRR
Sal Arena -LIRR
Richard Schulman -Concerned citizen
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for the January 9, 2014 meeting was approved. The minutes of the November 13, 2013 meeting were approved.
Chair’s Report
The Chair’s Report was distributed via email and is attached to these minutes.
Mark Epstein commented on the status of the open seat on the Amtrak Board, noting that the status of nominations for the seat is still unclear. He said that Senator Schumer’s office was surprised by State Senator Fuschillio’s announcement that he is leaving the State Legislature.
Mr. Epstein said that the main issue he wanted to discuss in the Chair’s report is his meeting with Amtrak officials. He said that he has asked Amtrak to meet with the LIRRCC and talk about the Gateway project and its other plans that may impact the LIRR. The Amtrak officials at the meeting responded that they would be glad to have such a meeting. Mr. Epstein noted that Amtrak would like to have the Council’s support on these initiatives.
Maureen Michaels stated that she is concerned about Metro-North access into Penn Station. It was noted that this cannot happen until East Side Access is complete, and that there appear to be further delays ahead for this project.
Staff Report
Bill Henderson briefly summarized the communications that had been received from the public since the last meeting.
Member Reports
Ms. Michaels pointed out that the redevelopment of Huntington Station had received commitments for federal funding. She stated that if the LIRRCC wants to influence this development and its impacts on commuters, the Council needs to be involved, especially with issues concerning the layout of tracks. She said that it would be worthwhile reconnecting with Huntington Supervisor Petrone on this issue.
Matt Kessler commented that Community Board 14’s focus is on the Rockaway boardwalk now and that discussion of transportation has taken a backseat.
Mr. Epstein said that he wanted to have two meet the Council events in the coming months. Ms. Michaels said that the last location for a Meet the Council event in Penn Station was not a good one. Mr. Henderson agreed with this assessment and several members noted that the prior Meet the Council location was much more visible to commuters.
Mr. Epstein said that planning for a potential LIRR strike is important and that the Council should be involved. Ms. Michaels said that a critical question is how this potential strike could differ from prior LIRR strikes and how strike plans should change to deal with these differences. Mr. Epstein suggested that the LIRRCC form a small working group to develop recommendations for actions that can be taken to protect riders in the event of a strike.
Mr. Epstein stated that two of three Long Island members may be lost from the State Senate’s Transportation Committee due to Senators’ decisions to resign or not seek reelection. He said that he wants to meet with Senator Skelos’ office to recommend that Long Island maintain a strong voice on this committee.
Bryan Peranzo asked whether there has been more damage to the LIRR station waiting rooms with them being kept open 24 hours a day in severe weather. Hector Garcia responded that he did not have any information on whether damage had increased, but said there have been more reports of homeless persons hanging out in the waiting rooms with the extended hours. He also noted that the LIRR had organized a meeting to start coordinating its actions with those of agencies serving the homeless in order to respond to these issues.
Sheila Carpenter responded that she has not seen homeless persons hanging out in stations, but has encountered locked stations at both Sayville and Ronkonkoma. Mr. Garcia noted out that there is a project underway to centralize control of all station building locks and that they will be controlled from Jamaica when it is completed.
Mr. Peranzo asked if the 24 hour station waiting room operation could be extended to be in effect in all winter weather. Mr. Garcia replied that he will ask about the possibility of implementing this policy. Ms. Michaels commented that a reasonable approach would be to look at experience at individual stations and deal with any problems that are found, but seek to extend waiting room hours generally. Mr. Garcia said that when problems are reported at a specific station, the police responding to the report lock the waiting room doors manually. As a result, the doors cannot be opened remotely and stay locked until someone unlocks them manually the next morning. This process makes it costly to keep responding to problems.
Mr. Peranzo noted that the LIRRCC is aware of the issues surrounding extended waiting room hours. Ms. Carpenter said that often customers complain not because homeless individuals are causing a problem but because they are offended by the presence of homeless persons. Ira Greenberg remarked that expanding 24 hour access to the waiting rooms may attract more homeless individuals to stations and that the Council has to be prepared for this possibility.
Mr. Epstein requested receiving the results of the meeting on the homeless within a week. Mr. Garcia agreed to this.
Mr. Kessler stated that Queens Community Board 14 has endorsed rebuilding the Rockaway Beach Line for transportation use. Queens Community Board 5 has also endorsed this plan for the currently unused right-of-way.
Ms. Michaels asked that the Council discuss the LIRR’s service alerts. She said that there are too many of them and that they are repeated too frequently. In addition, they are often released after issue that prompted them is resolved. She suggested that it is time for reevaluation of the criteria for issuing alerts. Mr. Greenberg said that the question is whether riders mind the way that the LIRR issues alerts. He said that a reduction in the number of “advice” alerts may be useful.
New Business
No New Business was discussed.
Old Business
The LIRRCC heard a presentation from Mr. Chris Calvagna, Executive Director of Positive Train Control for the LIRR. A copy of the presentation is on file in the PCAC office.
Mr. Calvagna discussed the existing cab signaling system that is in place on the LIRR. He said that the primary purpose of the system is to provide train-to-train separation and that two incidents in the 1950’s had led to the installation of this system on the LIRR.
Mr. Calvagna explained that the cab signaling system had evolved over the years. When the system was first installed and speed controls began to be enforced, the system relied on electromechanical technology. As the years went on, the system improved, and in 1999 microprocessor technology was first used for cab signaling. While the M1 cars relied on an analog system with mechanical relays, the M3 and C3 cars used microprocessors in their digital systems.
The LIRR has Automatic Block and Controlled Manual Block signals, as well as some areas that are not signalized, Mr. Calvagna noted. He briefly explained the different systems that are in place and noted where they are installed on a map of the LIRR system.
As a result of the renewed emphasis on safety systems, the LIRR is now planning to accelerate all improvements that it is making to the current signal system. Mr. Calvagna explained that the installation of a positive train control system is mandated by the federal Rail Safety Improvement Act, which was passed in October 2008. He said that Amtrak had installed its ACSES I system in 2000, but that this system requires significant modifications to function effectively on a commuter rail system. For example, the original ACSES system did not allow trains to get close enough to a signal to allow trains to fully platform in stations.
The LIRR will install positive train control on each pair of electric multiple unit cars and on all locomotives and coaches with operating cabs. The system that the LIRR installs must be interoperable with Amtrak’s system and with other railroads in the Northeastern United States.
Mr. Calvagna noted that another element of positive train control is a roadway workers protection service. This element of the system will allow track workers to request restrictions, which will be acknowledged and implemented by the train dispatcher. Unlike prior practice, however, this restriction can be released only by the employee in charge in the field. This prevents an accidental removal of the protection by rail controllers.
The positive train control system for the LIRR will be designed and produced by the system integrator that was recently approved by the MTA Board and will be installed by LIRR forces. Pilot tests of the technology will be conducted on the Port Washington Line and between Babylon and Patchogue, which will allow the LIRR to evaluate installation of the system over its different types of existing signals. A total of 856 positive train control units will have to be installed on LIRR equipment and Mr. Calvagna said that he is unsure how long this will take. The system will have to control 330 route miles and 73 interlockings.
Mr. Calvagna described the enhanced safety actions that will be taken in addition to positive train control. Ms. Michaels noted that she is very angry that preventive measures that have been completed within weeks of Metro-North’s December 1 derailment would have prevented that accident, but were not taken until after it was too late. Mr. Greenberg asked what the enhanced safety actions have cost and whether these actions could have prevented accidents at a lower cost than positive train control.
Mr. Calvagna commented that there is civil speed restriction already in place at nine curves and that the LIRR will install speed restriction at seven additional curves. He said that 75 percent of the LIRR’s rolling stock has alerters. Mr. Calvagna also briefly discussed the Confidential Close Call Reporting System that will be put in place and noted that the LIRR has held safety stand-downs for all employees and will continue to hold them periodically going forward.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
William Henderson
Executive Director