(The following story by Alfonso A. Castillo appeared on the Newsday website on October 23.)
NEW YORK — Long Island Rail Road president Helena Williams is expecting more reports about problems with the LIRR’s diesel fleet. And, Williams said yesterday, that’s a good thing.
The alternative is what has been going on for years at the LIRR – problem-plagued diesel trains put back in service after breakdowns because maintenance workers could not pinpoint what was wrong with them. At a Metropolitan Transportation Authority committee meeting yesterday, Williams said new procedures in recent months have led workers to better identify and resolve problems, and in turn, to fewer breakdowns of diesel trains.
The LIRR’s 46 diesel and “dual mode” locomotives, which can switch between diesel and electrical power, make up only a small fraction of the agency’s 1,000-plus fleet. But in recent years, the diesels, which are less than 10 years old, were breaking down about 20 times as often as the LIRR’s newest electric trains.
In January, LIRR-hired consultants Booz Allen Hamilton of Newark reported that one of the biggest reasons for the locomotives’ frequent breakdowns was that shop mechanics were not properly documenting or addressing the problems. Instead, the consultants found, the mechanics routinely reported “No Trouble Found” on those trains.
Williams yesterday announced a dozen recommendations by the consultants that have been implemented in recent months, largely dealing with reorganizing LIRR’s diesel maintenance operation to ensure better record-keeping and communication.
The results, Williams said, have been considerable. Over the past year, there were 32 percent fewer repeat maintenance problems than in the same period in 2007, according to LIRR figures. In the first seven months of 2008, there were 30.2 percent fewer delays for diesels than in the same period in 2007. And compared with 16 incidents of dual-mode trains being unable to switch from diesel to electric from January to June of 2007, there were no such incidents during the same period this year.
“That’s real progress for what we’re dealing with,” said Williams, who added that the diesel trains remain “an important component” of the overall fleet. The trains are necessary for travel east of Ronkonkoma, where tracks are not electrified.
LIRR Commuters Council chairman Gerard Bringmann said that while he commended LIRR for its progress with the diesels, there still is a long way to go.
“It’s like a big-league ballplayer getting his batting average from .200 to .264,” he said. “Yeah, it’s nice … But it’s nothing to brag about.”