Metro North Announces Safety Improvements
Late Sunday evening, the MTA Metro-North Railroad announced immediate safety improvements to critical locations. Here is more via the press release sent out:
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced that MTA Metro-North Railroad is making immediate improvements to reinforce safety at critical curves and movable bridges along the railroad’s right-of-way. These improvements were directed Friday by Governor Andrew Cuomo in a letter to the MTA and by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in its Emegency Order.
“Metro-North is taking important steps to improve safety for its customers and employees, and I expect the railroad will continue searching for ways to improve its operations and fully restore its commuters’ confidence,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Prendergast.
These improvements were made as part of an agreement reached between Metro-North and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT).
Signal crews have installed new protections at the Spuyten Duyvil curve, the site of last week’s fatal derailment, which will warn train engineers of the approaching speed reduction and will automatically apply the train’s emergency brakes if speed is not lowered to the 30 mph maximum in the curve. (Photos of this work are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtaphotos/sets/72157638485865565 ). The signal improvement at Spuyten Duyvil was done simultaneously and in coordination with work to restore track, power and signal systems there after the derailment. Those protections will be operating on all trains by Monday morning.
By Tuesday morning, all Metro-North trains will enhance communication between train engineers and conductors to ensure trains are operated at safe speeds at four other critical curves as well as at five movable bridges. Conductors will stand with engineers at each train’s control cab through the critical curves to verbally confirm that speed limits are adhered to. Where the train layout prohibits the conductor from reaching the engineer in a locomotive, they will communicate by radio. They will also communicate by radio at the five movable bridges.
Metro-North engineers are developing new signal protections to automatically enforce speed restrictions at the other four critical curves by March, and at the five movable bridges by September. The four critical curves are at Yonkers on the Hudson Line, White Plains on the Harlem Line, and Port Chester and Bridgeport on the New Haven Line. All five movable bridges are on the New Haven Line.
Metro-North has also surveyed its tracks and will reduce the maximum authorized speed at 26 locations in order to eliminate all locations where the speed limit drops by more than 20 mph. Signs will be posted along the right-of-way to alert engineers of reductions in maximum authorized speed at the four curves by December 16.
In addition, Metro-North has committed to enhance its monitoring of compliance with speed restrictions. This monitoring is accomplished by reviewing the event data recorders from randomly selected trains, by sending supervisors to ride trains and observe speeds, and by operating radar gun enforcement at locations throughout the Metro-North network.
“These actions, combined with investments in the infrastructure and a hightened focus on safety with all employees, are critical to ensure the confidence and trust of all of the stakeholders in the Metro-North rail system. It is our expectation that Metro-North will continue to make safety and reliability their primary focus and demonstrate this through regular and transparent actions and communications,” said ConnDOT Commissioner James Redeker.
Two-thirds of Metro-North’s operating fleet is equipped with alerter devices in the engineer’s position to ensure engineers remain attentive, and the remaining one-third is equipped with dead man’s controls. Within the next year, all equipment without alerters will be either retrofitted to include them or replaced with new equipment that includes alerters.
At the FRA’s direction, Metro-North has also committed to implementing a confidential close call reporting system, a measure which will allow employees to anonymously report safety concerns without fear of reprisal in order to identify potential problems before they can cause an accident or injury.
Additionally, Metro-North has conducted safety stand-downs for 4,500 employees in over 200 sessions at more than 80 locations. These sessions emphasized to all employees that safety is the most important factor in railroad operations and that all employees must operate and communicate effectively with safety as the ultimate goal. These safety stand-downs will be conducted every quarter in the future.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Service Diversions 12-05-13
Get a head start on your weekend plans as I have just updated the Service Diversions.
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Have a safe & wonderful weekend!
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Metro North Restores Full Hudson Line Service
Late this afternoon, the MTA Metro-North Railroad announced that it has restored full service on the Hudson Line for Thursday morning. Here are the details via press release:
Crews from Metro-North Railroad have completed the reconstruction of a second Hudson Line track in the area of Sunday’s derailment, allowing resumption of full service Thursday morning.
The work, including new ties, ballast, running rails, third rails and signal system, was completed in mid-afternoon and it was inspected by the Sperry Rail Car, which uses ultrasonic technology.
“I want to thank our customers for their patience during the railroad’s recovery from this most tragic accident,” said Metro-North President Howard Permut. “And I want to thank the dedicated men and women of Metro-North who worked long and hard to achieve this reconstruction.”
A full AM peak service will be provided on the Hudson Line Thursday. The three trains that did not run on Wednesday morning will be restored to the schedule.
Reconstruction of Track 4, the most seriously damaged, will continue for the remainder of the week.
Ridership on the Hudson Line was about 25% below the normal AM peak on Wednesday, possibly as some customers diverted to the Harlem Line. The railroad expects customers to return on Thursday.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Metro-North Restores Hudson Line Service
Only a few days after the horrific derailment over the weekend, the MTA Metro-North will restore approximately 98% of its Hudson Line service as of this morning. Here is more via the official press release I received:
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that MTA Metro-North Railroad will resume more than 98% of its regular Hudson Line service in time for Wednesday morning’s commute following last weekend’s tragic derailment. The railroad was able to clear debris, begin rebuilding tracks and restore one of the three tracks in the area that was not significantly damaged in the accident.
“Thanks to an extraordinary effort and around the clock work, over 98% of service will be restored for Hudson Line commuters in time for tomorrow morning’s rush hour,” Governor Cuomo said. “As the NTSB continues its investigation of the derailment on Sunday morning, the MTA is fully cooperating to ensure we find out exactly what caused this horrific incident that took the lives of four individuals and injured many others. The families of those we lost and those still recovering continue to be in our thoughts and prayers. I’d like to thank our Metro-North crews and first responders who have been working tirelessly to reopen the Hudson Line as quickly as possible.”
“The extraordinary work of Metro-North forces has enabled a rapid resumption of service and I commend them,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Prendergast. “I also want to thank Governor Cuomo for his continuing leadership during this crisis and all the first responders of the New York Police Department, the New York Fire Department and emergency workers at area hospitals for their quick response and expert assistance in dealing with this tragic incident.”
Personnel worked all night Monday to remove debris and ballast and begin laying new ties. With approval of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation, all rail cars were cleared from the tracks by 6 p.m. on Monday and moved to Highbridge Yard in the Bronx and Croton-Harmon Yard in Westchester where they remain impounded by the NTSB for further investigation.
About 900 gallons of diesel fuel was siphoned from the locomotive before it was removed from the accident scene and workers have used a specialized piece of equipment called a Rail Vac to remove any remaining fuel that spilled during the accident. No fuel reached either the Harlem or Hudson rivers.
Metro-North crews have been rebuilding about 800 feet of track that were damaged by Sunday’s derailment at Spuyten Duyvil in the Bronx. The section where the accident occurred has three tracks. The middle track was badly damaged and the outer track, closest to the river, was destroyed. Crews will continue to rebuild the two damaged tracks while service resumes on a single track.
As a result of that limited track capacity for a one-mile segment, six AM peak trains will be combined into three, and all customers should expect possible Hudson Line delays of 10 to 15 minutes.
On Wednesday, Dec. 4, the following trains will be cancelled/combined:
• The 7:15 AM from Scarborough to Grand Central Terminal is combined with the 7:16 AM train from Croton-Harmon, which will make all stops of both trains.
• The 7:37 AM from Ossining to Grand Central Terminal is combined with the 7:40 AM train from Croton-Harmon, which will make all stops of both trains.
• The 8:45 AM train from Greystone to Grand Central Terminal is combined with the 8:22 AM train from Croton-Harmon, which will make all stops of both trains.
The Hudson RailLink bus service will serve the Spuyten Duyvil Station, but there will be no parking at that station because of the presence of numerous heavy duty trucks and specialized track equipment needed for the rebuilding effort.
The work continues with the Track Department installing new ties and running rails, in addition to laying down new rock. New third rail that provides electricity to power the trains will be installed by the Power Department followed by the Signal Department working to restore the signal system. When that work is completed, test trains will be run before service can be resumed. This work will take all day Tuesday and likely run into the next few days. The goal is to restore all tracks as soon as possible.
Meanwhile the railroad will operate all but three of its 175 regular daily Hudson Line trains on a single track.
While the agencies still have a ton of work to do in the coming days & weeks, kudos to the Metro-North for getting the majority of its service back online even if in an altered capacity.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Metro North Hudson Line Derailment
Aerial view of the derailment near the Spuyten Duyvil Station. Photo courtesy of Mark Bonifacio of the New York Daily News.
A trying year for the MTA Metro-North Railroad has become even worse as a NYC-bound Hudson line train derailed this morning about 100 yards north of the Spuyten Duyvil Station on a large curved section of track.
Reports have been frequent throughout the day. We knew that 4 were confirmed dead & 63 injured. However just a short time ago, the agency released the names of the victims after their families were notified. The victims were:
Donna L. Smith, 54, of Newburgh, N.Y.
James G. Lovell, 58, of Cold Spring, N.Y.
James M. Ferrari, 59, of Montrose, N.Y.
Ahn Kisook, 35, of Queens, N.Y
First & foremost, my heartfelt condolences go out to the friends & families of the victims.
The initial report from motorman William ‘Bill’ Rockefeller Jr. was that he applied the brakes approaching the curve as is normal procedure but they failed him.
Some riders on board including Kathleen Davis said “We were going so fast around that turn, something wasn’t right. All of a sudden everyone went flying. We were dragging on the ground, people were landing on each other. Then there was dirt everywhere.”
The NTSB was quickly on the scene & they along with the MTA will be reviewing the train’s black box for speed records leading up to the derailment.
As one would expect, service through the area will be suspended for sometime. The MTA has released service plan information for the rest of tonight & Monday morning:
Following this morning’s derailment of a Hudson Line train in the Bronx, MTA Metro-North Railroad will continue to provide bus service from the Tarrytown Station to the White Plains Station on the Harlem Line until 2 a.m. Monday.
Beginning at 5 a.m. Monday, MTA Bus will provide a bus shuttle between the Yonkers Station and the 242nd Street terminus of the Broadway #1 local subway, until further notice.
New York City Subways will operate two additional #1 local trains per hour during the peak periods.
Hudson Line will continue to be cross-honored on the subway.
Many of the 26,000 people who use the Hudson Line on an average weekday are encouraged to ride the Harlem Line as an alternative.
People who do not have to travel are urged to telecommute. People should expect crowded trains.
In cooperation with Westchester and Putnam counties and local municipalities, special parking is being arranged to accommodate additional drivers at the Southeast Station at the northern terminus of the Harlem line and at Kensico Dam, which is in walking distance to the Valhalla station. Riders should consult mta.info for additional information on the continuing repair effort and service restoration.
As the days & weeks go by, we will find out more about what led to this horrific tragedy. Make sure to keep checking back as I will be staying on top of this via posts & updates on Twitter.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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