(The Stamford Advocated posted the following article by Jonathan Lucas on its website on May 9.)
DARIEN, Conn. — Between fare hikes, overcrowding, parking and dirty rail cars, commuters have a lot to complain about these days.
Yesterday morning, they got a chance to address a group of state, railroad and town officials as part of the fifth annual “Meet the Commuter” day.
The event, organized by the Connecticut Metro North-Shore Line East Rail Commuter Council, was held at Darien’s Noroton Heights train station because commuter council members have characterized its conditions as deplorable.
“This train station has got to be updated,” John Bassler, a 22-year commuter from Darien, said as he ran to catch the 7:58 a.m. train to New York. “It’s a disgrace for a town so wealthy. The place should be fixed up.”
The Noroton Heights station is suffering from “serious deterioration,” according to an independent engineering report commissioned by the state Department of Transportation.
On a scale of one to five, with five being the best, the station received an overall score of two. The 59-page report estimated it would cost $538,000 to patch cracks in the platform, replace railings, upgrade lighting and address other structural problems.
The Noroton Heights station was examined as part of a larger $1.6 million study of the 36 rail stations on Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line and its three connecting branches.
Members of the commuter council, a watchdog group created by the state Legislature, have strongly criticized Darien officials for diverting the more than $250,000 it receives in annual parking revenues away from maintenance and safety improvements at the station.
“This really bugs me,” commuter council Chairman Rodney Chabot said as he pointed out broken lights, busted heating vents and a stench emanating from the bathroom. “All the money the town brings in from parking is supposed to be plowed back into maintaining the station. Look, there’s a heater vent falling off. Anybody who lives in Darien should be unhappy.”
Darien First Selectman Robert Harrel and other members of the town’s Board of Selectmen came out as early as 5:30 a.m. — when the first batch of commuters was leaving the station — to defend the town’s practices.
While the town is supposed to be responsible for station maintenance, the state is required to carry out any capital building or renovation expenses.
Darien Democratic Selectwoman Barbara Thorne said the state and town need to share the responsibility of improving the station. Republican Selectman Joseph Warren said he would like to see a regular maintenance plan established rather than react to problems when they become unsafe or unsightly.
“We have no long-term plan to deal with simple things such as painting,” Warren said. “It becomes a squeaky wheel issue of when the complaints get loud enough, the building gets painted and we need to do better than that.”
Warren also noted that while the town has made money in the past from selling parking permits, it lost money this year because of excessive snow-removal costs.
“The reality is, we’re losing money here,” Warren said.
Most commuters kept to themselves yesterday morning as the throng of officials milled around the station. But some, such as Christie Fountain of the Glenbrook section of Stamford, arrived early so they could get answers to the lack of seats on rush-hour trains and the push for a 15 percent fare increase.
Fountain, a regular commuter for the past two years, lives within walking distance of the New Canaan Branch. However, she rides to the Noroton Heights station so she can get a seat on the train.
Harry Harris, chief of the DOT’s Bureau of Public Transportation, said the state is developing plans for the next generation of trains. He said people would not have to stand if they use the middle seats.
“There’s two guys standing in the vestibule there,” Harris said as commuters piled into the 7:34 a.m. train. “But, if you look at it, there are five empty seats and those guys will complain that they stood all the way. It’s a classic example of the middle-seat syndrome.”
Many commuters are bracing for a proposed 15 percent fare hike that could be implemented as soon as July 1. However, Democratic leaders in the Legislature have proposed cutting the fare increase to 7.5 percent.
The DOT must decide on the fare increase by next week.
“I’ve never seen these guys before and all of a sudden before the fare goes up, they show up,” said one commuter.
The commuter council previously held similar events in Westport, Fairfield, Bridgeport and aboard a train.
Jim Cameron, vice chairman of the commuter council, said the event is an important way for the “invisible constituency” of commuters to sound off.
“It’s a good event because the commuters get to see that there are human beings behind the railroad and it’s not just a faceless bureaucracy,” Cameron said. “In this case, I’m glad we chose Noroton Heights because it’s the poster child of the issue of towns neglecting their responsibility by taking parking revenues and not allocating it to maintenance of the stations.”