STAMFORD, Conn. — Last week, New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey welcomed 200 new “Comet V” New Jersey Transit train cars and said 231 dual-level train cars will arrive by 2005, the Stamford Advocate reports.
At the same time, Connecticut officials and Metro-North Railroad were preparing to start a $150 million, five-year program to rehabilitate 242 aged train cars on the New Haven Line.
“Clearly, there is one state that is doing the right thing,” said James Cameron, vice chairman of the Connecticut Metro-North Shore Line East Rail Commuter Council.
Cameron was referring to New Jersey.
Connecticut’s rehabilitation program, Cameron said, is a “stopgap measure” to delay the inevitable. Metro-North’s New Haven line will need 400 to 450 cars by 2020, and the cost, coupled with other expenses, could reach $2 billion, he said.
“The rehabilitation is not going to give us new cars,” Cameron said. “It’s only going to give us the old cars with new electronics, or guts. It’s not going to give us a new seat at all.”
State officials say the rehabilitation program is significant, and insist they are committed to improving the commuter railroad. They also say its unfair to compare Connecticut’s Metro-North trains to New Jersey Transit, which carries a population each day four times the size of Stamford.
Whether — or when — Connecticut will buy new Metro-North train cars remains controversial and may not be answered until a major transportation report is issued after the fall election. Generally, the state pays for 65 percent of capital costs for the New Haven line, with Metro-North Railroad paying the rest. The train line has 344 train cars.
Christopher Cooper, a spokesman for Gov. John Rowland, dismissed criticism of the state’s work on the commuter railroad. Just yesterday, he said, a new train station opened in downtown New Haven.
In addition, he pointed out, Shore Line East commuter trains now run express to Stamford, five new stations are being added in separate towns, $19 million is going to reconstruct the New Haven rail yard and $35 million was spent to add four locomotives and 10 coaches for branches of the New Haven line.
These efforts may be unprecedented in the state, Cooper said.
“We’ve done more to improve rail transportation and increase ridership than has probably ever been done before,” he said.
Rowland’s political rivals disagree.
“Connecticut has had some very misplaced priorities,” said state Sen. George Jepsen, D-Stamford, who is campaigning for governor.
Rather than invest in infrastructure, Jepsen criticized Rowland for taking $300 million in past state surpluses and giving tax $50 rebates to individuals.
“You could have fixed up sewage treatments plants with that,” Jepsen said. “We could have invested in transportation infrastructure.”
In December, the state Transportation Strategy Board is due to release a major report to the General Assembly and governor. Nelson “Oz” Griebel, chairman of the board, said future expansion or maintenance of Metro-North Railroad will be a key part of it.
“My opinion is that Metro-North is a very high priority, that rail generally is a high property,” Griebel said.
Metro-North Railroad ridership has increased in recent years, but is down slightly this year on the New Haven Line. Peak ridership is down 3.4 percent, but off-peak ridership is up about the same amount, according to Metro-North spokeswoman Marjorie Anders.
By contrast, New Jersey Transit had an increase of 15,000 weekday riders after Sept. 11 and is dealing with 4,000 commuters standing on trains each day. McGreevey said his measures, which include schedule changes, will give everyone a seat on the trains by the fall.
On Metro-North Railroad trains in Connecticut, riders may have to wait longer to see such changes, particularly if budget deficits persist. Meanwhile, Cameron said problems are likely to worsen.
“We are barely treading water,” he said.