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MNRCC Statement – October 1, 2013 – New Haven Line Outage

Testimony to the Metro-North Committee of the MTA Board

Rider Compensation
For New Haven Line Multi Week Outage

October 1, 2013

Good afternoon, I am Ellyn Shannon. I am here to speak on behalf of the Metro-North Railroad Commuter Council regarding the loss of New Haven Line service. Since last Wednesday, New Haven line riders have had to either endure lengthy and crowded commutes, work from home, or simply take days off. The lack of service has taken a huge toll on these riders in terms of money, time and stress. None of them have gotten their money’s worth, and they deserve to be made whole.

Last week the MNRCC recommended to Metro-North President Howard Permut that the Railroad find a means of compensating riders for these extreme inconveniences. We are pleased to see that MTA management is recommending that the Board take action today to authorize due compensation. We encourage you to move to credit riders for their loss of service in a simple, straightforward, and rapid manner. It is simply the right thing to do.

If it is determined that the actions of Con Edison caused this outage they should reimburse Metro-North and take responsibility for other losses that the MTA and Metro-North have incurred.

We also call for a comprehensive investigation of the circumstances and causes of this outage and a full review of the practices, policies, and contingency plans that Metro-North has in place to prevent similar events from happening in the future.

We applaud the cooperative efforts put forth by MTA New York City Transit and other transit agencies to provide alternative transportation and customer communication.

There is no question that there are lessons to be learned from this event, and hope that the Board takes the appropriate actions to compensate riders who have and will continue to endure service disruptions until full service is restored.

Download here: 100113 MNR New Haven Outage