A federal assessment of Metro-North management operations has revealed that the agency's managers' focus on timeliness of trains has created "safety-critical shortfalls" within the system. The report suggests these shortfalls may have contributed to four serious accidents on the Metro-North line in 2013, including last December's deadly derailment near Spuyten Duyvil and a collision that killed a worker on Monday.
The 60-day assessment found that workers (like track inspectors) were poorly trained, inspections were lacking and punctuality was "the most important criteria," leaving safety under-addressed. "The findings of Operation Deep Dive demonstrate that Metro-North has emphasized on-time performance to the detriment of safe operations and adequate maintenance of its infrastructure,” the report read. “This is a severe assessment, and it is intended as an urgent call to action to Metro-North’s leadership.”
In addition to December's derailment, which left four dead and scores injured, Metro-North suffered a collision on the New Haven line in May, a track foreman was fatally struck in West Haven, Conn. a few weeks later and a CSX freight train derailed in Spuyten Duyvil in July. On Monday, track worker James Romansoff, 58, was fatally struck by a train while working on the tracks at Park Avenue and East 106th Street in Manhattan.
After December's tragedy, the Federal Railroad Administration ordered a modification of the Metro-North system in light of Sunday's tragic derailment, calling for additional signal system technology that would alert speeding engineers and trigger a train's brakes if the drivers do not slow down. And in January, Metro-North president Howard Permut stepped down.
Metro-North Railroad’s new President, Joseph Giulietti, gave a press conference today to address the report, and the agency says that they will be taking "aggressive actions to affirm that safety is the most important factor in railroad operations." Metro-North Railroad Commuter Council Chair Randolph Glucksman issued a statement this afternoon urging the agency to address safety issues:
Metro-North Railroad must act promptly and decisively to put its operation in order. Failing to make real and meaningful changes in railroad rules, practices, and culture not only threatens the safety of Metro-North’s operation, but puts at risk the trust and faith of its riders. Metro-North’s reputation among its riders has been built over thirty years, and now is the time for management to refocus on the foundations of their operation and once again earn the riders’ confidence.
