Rep Hovey Calls On DOT To Expedite Purchase of New Commuter Rail Cars

Monroe and Newtown residents who want to ride Metro-North trains to get to their jobs are being seriously inconvenienced because of delays by the state in acquiring new rail cars to accommodate about 2,000 new commuters, state Representative Debra Lee Hovey, R-112th District, said this week in demanding that the state Department of Transportation expedite the purchase.

The DOT authorized the purchase last year as part of a ten-year, $264 million Transportation Strategy Board plan. The 2003 authorization was in addition to legislation adopted in 2000, which provided $35 million to buy new rail cars that could carry more than 1,000 commuters.

“Convincing more people to use Metro-North to get to work instead of driving would be much easier if DOT had made good on its responsibility to purchase the new rail cars we authorized last year,” Representative Hovey said. “Instead, many residents who want to use Metro-North as an alternative to their personal motor vehicles have found themselves waiting at the station for trains that never seem to arrive. Others are crowded into older rail cars, many of which are malfunctioning or are on the verge of breaking down because of age and constant use. Many of these rail cars were not even designed for use in colder climates.”

“There is no excuse for the fact that the new rail cars the General Assembly authorized and appropriated funding for three years ago have not been designed, financed, and ordered by now. With the number of rail commuters on the increase, the need to cut through the bureaucratic red tape and expedite the purchase of new rolling stock becomes more and more urgent with each passing day. Other states in the northeast and northwest have been through this process already. ConnDOT should request copies of their studies, make use of the information they developed that is relevant to our situation, and proceed to buy those rail cars rather than going over the same ground they did,” Representative Hovey said.

“Recent reports have indicated that about $8 million that was approved for the new rail cars was diverted and moved from one state fund to another and contributed to the delay in getting them on line,” Representative Hovey said. “Whatever the reason, enough is enough. It is time for ConnDOT to get off the dime, find the money, and buy the rolling stock Fairfield County commuters have been promised for years. Anything less is unacceptable.”