CDOT Vows No Fare Hike for Metro-North

Connecticut riders of Metro-North have been given a reprieve: a long threatened ten percent fare hike cannot happen anytime soon and a legislatively mandated Jan. 1 2010 fare increase of 1.25 percent is being postponed.

Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Joseph Marie told the CT Rail Commuter Council at its monthly meeting (Sept. 16 in Stamford) that it’s still up to the legislature to decide if there will be a fare hike to help balance the budget.  Lawmakers meet Sept. 23 to work on so-called “implementers” and CDOT is writing to the leadership in hopes that a fare hike can be avoided.

But even if a fare hike is required, it won’t happen Oct. 1 2009 as lawmakers had discussed earlier this month.  The CDOT Commissioner said that logistically it would take until at least January or possibly as late as March 2010 for any fare hike to go into effect.  Public hearings are required, among other legal steps.

Even the 1.25 percent fare hike planned for Jan. 1 2010 cannot be implemented by that date and would probably be combined with whatever other fare increase results from the legislature’s budget work.

CDOT Commissioner Marie also said the delay in a fare increase would keep with the spirit of Governor Rell’s 2005 promise that no fare hike should go into effect until passengers could start riding in the new M8 rail cars.

As for those new rail cars, Commissioner Marie said the first prototypes are undergoing static testing at the Kawasaki plant in Japan.  By Nov. of this year a set of test cars should arrive in Connecticut for four to six months of testing and by May of 2010 passengers would be able to ride in the long-promised new cars.

However, noting his many years in the mass transit industry, including time working at rail car manufacturers Siemens and Bombardier, Commr. Marie said it was extremely optimistic to think Kawasaki could uphold its aggressive delivery schedule of ten cars per month through 2012.

“I was very impressed by the Commissioner’s candor and honesty,” said CT Rail Commuter Council Chairman Jim Cameron.  “He convinced me that CDOT is on top of this issue and doing all it can to expedite the M8 deliveries without cutting any corners on the crucial testing of the new cars.”

Cameron, who was re-elected by the Council to a third term as Chairman in his fourteen years as a member of the legislatively appointed body, was also pleased with news about the fares.

“This Commuter Council has done all it could to remind lawmakers of their promise to riders of Metro-North that fares would not go up until the new cars arrived,” said Cameron.  “Holding off the threatened fare hike until the spring was absolutely the right thing to do and the CDOT is to be commended.”

In other news, Commissioner Marie announced that federal funds under the ARRP were flowing to the towns for long-promised repairs and enhancements to most Metro-North rail stations in the state.  He expects all work to be completed by 2010.

The next meeting of the CT Rail Commuter Council will be Wednesday Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. in the vicinity of Grand Central Terminal in New York City. For more information about the CT Rail Commuter Council visit www.trainweb.org/ct