Commuter Council Told Fare Hike Not Likely Until 2012

Below are highlights from Wednesday evening’s meeting of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council.

Probably No Fare Hike Until 2012

James P. Redeker, interim commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Transportation, said the proposed state budget by Gov. Dannell Malloy does not call for a New Haven Line fare increase until next January.

To pay for the new M-8 rail cars, the administration of Gov. M. Jodi Rell planned to raise New Haven Line fares in Connecticut by 1.25% after the first of the new cars went into service.

Thereafter, fares were to be raised an additional 1 percent each January until 2015.

The first train of eight M-8 cars began carrying passengers March 1.

Several public hearings are required to be held before rail fares can be raised in Connecticut, and Redeker said none have been scheduled.

Danbury Branch Service Resumes

Thursday evening Metro-North will run four regularly scheduled trains from Grand Central Terminal to Danbury, marking the return of rail service on the Danbury branch. Friday the full schedule of trains on the branch will resume.

Service on the branch was halted after heavy rain March 6-7 washed out an embankment of the right-of-way in Bethel. Bus service has been provided in the interim. Metro-North said the washout was 120 feet long and 20 feet deep, leaving a stretch of rails and ties suspended over the gap.

St. Patty's Day Ban on Alcoholic Beverages

Metro-North is banning alcoholic beverages Thursday on all its trains because it is St. Patrick’s Day.

Metro-North representatives at the meeting said the railroad has experienced its cars being trashed and vandalized on this holiday.

Sgt. Gerard Battistista of the MTA Police said alcoholic beverages will be confiscated from people who board a train with them.

Neither bar cars nor beverage carts at the entrances to the terminal’s platforms will offer alcoholic beverages.

Battistista said the restriction was not aimed at regular commuters. “We’re looking for the people who can’t control themselves.”

Earthquake Not Expected to Delay M-8 Deliveries

Redeker said there’s no expectation the earthquake in Japan will affect the manufacture of M-8 rail cars at Kawasaki’s plant in Kobe, which is in the southern half of the country.

“We have (ConnDOT representatives) on the ground there,” he said. “Nobody’s expecting this is going to create a huge issue.”

The first M-8 car to be built in Kawasaki’s Lincoln, Nebraska, plant is expected to be delivered in May, he said.

Redeker said there is an eight-car train of M-8 cars running on the New Haven Line daily, and a second eight-car train will be put into service shortly.

Thirty-eight of the cars are to come from Kobe, with another 342 from Lincoln. He said 26 M-8 cars have been delivered from Kobe.

Redeker said 80 M-8 cars are expected to be delivered by the end of the year.

Location of Council’s February Meeting Considered

The council meets at least once a year in Manhattan, usually in Metro-North’s headquarters in the Graybar Building next door to Grand Central Terminal.

The members discussed holding the April meeting in a public area of the terminal instead, with the idea that passing commuters might spot it and decide to watch it.

Representatives from Metro-North agreed to consider finding a public location for the meeting.