(The following article by Mark Ginocchio was posted on the Stamford Advocate website on October 7.)
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Despite growing up in Virginia, Gov. M. Jodi Rell says the new rail cars coming to Connecticut this month are not meant to promote her home state.
“I’m sorry they say Virginia on the front,” she said. “But the fact is, they’re in Connecticut now.”
At Union Station in New Haven yesterday, the state unveiled three of the 26 used rail cars purchased last month from Virginia Railway Express. Those cars allow the state to meet its goal of adding 2,000 more seats to its rail systems.
After taking a guided tour, Rell had glowing praise for the new $14 million acquisition.
“They look great,” she said while passing by the rows of red and blue seats. “These things are in tip-top shape.”
The most noticeable difference is the “Virginia Railway Express” logo tattooed along the top and sides of cars. Inside the train car, the seats are brighter, the floors are cleaner and the overall conditions appear newer than what Connecticut commuters are used to with Metro-North Railroad.
But Maetro-North will not benefit directly from these cars. After being reconfigured to run on the state’s rail systems, the cars will be placed on Shore Line East Railroad, and26 Shore Line cars will be switched to Metro-North. The cars from Virginia are 12 years old; the Shore Line cars are a decade old.
Because the Virginia rail cars are diesel engines, they are not compatible with Metro-North.
The state Department of Transportation initially wanted to refurbish all the Virginia cars and remove the logos, but when the governor found out that process could last until February, she demanded the cars be ready to go by the end of this month — Virginia logos and all.
“We couldn’t wait for next year,” Rell said. “I told them they had to move it up.”
DOT Commissioner Stephen Korta said the cars were only going to be delayed for the refurbishing, and they will be safe to use once they are put into use.
About 15 cars should be ready by the end of the month and the other nine will be here by the end of the year, said DOT spokesman Chris Cooper. The cars are being stored at the New Haven rail yard for routine maintenance.
Rail advocates and legislators praised the governor for aggressively pursuing the Virginia cars, but wanted to remind commuters the new acquisition is not going to solve all of Metro-North’s problems.
“It’s encouraging that the governor is fulfilling her promise . . . but at the same time my level of joy is tempered,” said state Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford. “We’re still going inherit old cars from the Shore Line East and I hope what we inherit isn’t as decrepit as what we already got.”
Last winter, almost one-third of the Metro-North fleet was knocked out of commission because of the cold weather. Many of the cars are 30 years old — 10 years past their life expectancy.
McDonald said he hopes Rell makes the proposed $1 billion long-term plan to buy new rail cars for Metro-North her top priority when the Legislature meets in January.
“People will now have a place to sit because of these cars, but they need to understand that this is nothing more than a stop-gap,” McDonald said.
Jim Cameron, vice chairman of the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council, said commuters should expect a repeat of last winter if the weather gets bad.
“I’m just warning commuters,” Cameron said. Until the state gets new cars, “it’s no one’s faults but the legislators. Not Metro-North. Not DOT. But (Rell) can turn that around.”