(The following story by Steve Ritea appeared on the Newsday website on January 23.)
LONG ISLAND — LIRR due $1.2M in reimbursements
The Long Island Rail Road failed to claim about $1.2 million in reimbursements for work covered under warranty on its M-7 rail cars, according to a report issued yesterday by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s inspector general.
The LIRR has begun working to recover the funds, the report said, and “quickly took steps to improve its controls and oversight for the warranty reimbursement system.”
The report said 4,424 repairs that could have allowed the LIRR to claim $1.06 million under the warranty never were submitted. Another 748 warranty claims for more than $120,000 were lost.
Since 1999, the LIRR and Metro-North Railroad have purchased 1,172 M-7 passenger cars from Canada-based Bombardier Transportation Inc., the report said. The 836 cars that went to the LIRR are the newest on the railroad and make up the bulk of the fleet.
Warranties remain in effect for many of the cars, the report said, and the LIRR is reimbursed the cost of having its own staff replace parts. The inspector general examined LIRR records from October 2002 to December 2006.