(The following story by Deborah S. Morris appeared on the Newsday website on October 2.)
NEW YORK — Citing the electrical fire that shut down Penn Station last week as a wake-up call to modernize tunnels, Sen. Charles Schumer is calling on President George W. Bush and the House to help make New York’s railway tunnels safer.
A Schumer-backed plan for $570 million in federal funding for security improvements in New York’s tunnels passed the Senate unanimously Friday night. The funds are part of a $1.2-billion rail security bill that Schumer (D-N.Y.) co-authored with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
“The Senate took the first step to send New York $570 million to upgrade our tunnels this week in case the unthinkable happens again and terrorists strike,” Schumer said yesterday at a news conference in his office on Manhattan’s East Side. “Now it’s time for the House and for the president to do the same.”
Schumer said the president, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in particular need to act quickly so the money dedicated to ventilation, electrical and fire safety upgrades, emergency communication and lighting systems can be put to use.
Amtrak officials said Monday’s fire apparently began when a signal line came into contact with a power line used to power Amtrak trains. The resulting power surge blew out circuit breakers and at least one transformer, and knocked down another power line, sparking a fire.
Smoke from the fire filled one of four East River tunnels owned by Amtrak, hampering visibility for firefighters trying to get to the blaze on a 98-foot spiral staircase, which is nearly 100 years old. The archaic ventilation system allowed the tunnel to fill with so much smoke that flashlights were useless. The fire stranded and delayed thousands of commuters and travelers on the Long Island Rail Road, NJ Transit and Amtrak.
“A single cable falling shouldn’t shut down an entire city,” Schumer said, adding that the incident highlighted how vulnerable tunnels are to a biological or chemical attack.
He said he does not blame Amtrak because it simply does not have the funds to modernize the tunnels. To put the cost on the LIRR or NJ Transit systems is not fair, he said, because it inevitably would be passed on to commuters.
“The bottom line is, if we won’t give Amtrak the funds to do this themselves, the only other option is to pay for the tunnel upgrades directly,” Schumer said.
Also Friday, the Senate approved the Public Transportation Terrorism Prevention Act, which authorizes spending $3.5 billion next year on subway and transit systems’ capital security improvements, training for transit employees, public awareness and canine patrols.