BOSTON — Bay State lawmakers met with Amtrak President David Gunn yesterday to discuss Amtrak’s stewardship of the MBTA commuter rail, but said they came away from the hourlong discussion disappointed, the Boston Herald reported.
“A lot of the concerns we raised I thought were left unanswered and . . . I don’t think we got a satisfactory response,” said U.S. Rep. James McGovern, (D-Worcester). The meeting was requested by the Massachusetts House delegation, led by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston), to discuss Amtrak’s management of the commuter rail system and safety concerns.
It was prompted by the recent firing of Amtrak commuter rail boss Kevin Lydon. Amtrak has decided to walk away from running the T’s commuter rail when its contract expires next summer.
Lynch was unavailable for comment yesterday, but McGovern said, “I didn’t leave the meeting feeling any great sense of satisfaction that any of our concerns were heard or that Mr. Gunn is going to do anything . . . in response to our issues,” said McGovern.