Printer Friendly Version - Shore Line East Users Suffer Through Delays and Cancellations

Shore Line East service has experienced higher than usual interruptions in service in recent months, leaving commuters such as these in Branford to rely on bus service when the train fails. The rail operator says service will improve, though state funding appears to also be at risk. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The morning commute has turned into a headache for some shoreline residents. With Shore Line East (SLE) suffering though frequent train cancellation and delays over the past several weeks, commuters have found themselves waiting on train platforms in freezing temperatures and herded onto buses put in service to replace canceled trains. While SLE recently put out a statement informing commuters that train services should be back to normal soon, the dismal health of the state’s transportation fund suggests there may be more trouble down the line.

For the past few weeks, commuters have found themselves receiving late or last minute alerts informing them that their train has been delayed or canceled. The service issues prompted residents to contact SLE as well as their local representatives. On Jan. 12, SLE released a statement updating residents on the situation and letting them know when they might see some relief.

“…There are a number of reasons why train service has not been reliable. The recent extreme weather conditions have worsened the reliability of the locomotives, many of which are more than 25 years old. We have taken locomotives out of service for repair to fix these reliability issues. Additionally, we have shipped some locomotives to receive new onboard technology required for Positive Train Control to improve operating safety. This program has further reduced the availability of locomotives for service.

“While the locomotive repairs are underway, we will have buses on standby at train stations to provide transportation when trains are canceled. And in order to ensure the reliability of our diesel locomotive fleet for the long term, we will continue our investment program to rebuild all diesel locomotives over the next 12 to 18 months. We thank you for your continued business. We expect service will gradually return to normal in the coming weeks…”

Residents who rely on SLE to get to work had expressed frustration with the service and the lack of communication. Meredith Crawford (a former Courier editor)has been riding SLE from Madison into New Haven for the past 2 ½ years and said while the service has never been perfect, things really started to decline about two months ago when buses started replacing the morning trains to New Haven and evening service trains started becoming affected, too.

“For me, the service cancellations and overall unpredictability are a headache and an inconvenience,” she said. “I realize I’m in a privileged position compared to a lot of riders: my employer encourages and incentivizes commuting, so riding the train is mainly a quality of life issue... {but] for many, SLE is a necessity. If a train is canceled, that’s hours’ or even a full day’s worth of wages that they miss because they can’t afford the price of driving to work and parking.”

Crawford said she doesn’t place all of the blame on SLE because she understands funding for the train comes from the state. To shed more light on this issue, she said taxpayers have to make it clear that good public transportation is not just about convenience, it’s about access to work and healthcare—among other things.

“I recently met an elderly husband and wife who rely on SLE to travel to his chemo treatments at Smilow in New Haven,” she said. “They ride the train because he needs access to a bathroom since the chemo makes him ill…”

While SLE said in its statement that these delays are a result of poor weather and aging equipment, these recent delays foreshadow a grim couple of years if the state doesn’t do something to fix the Special Transportation Fund (STF).

STF was created a few decades ago to provide financial investments in the state’s transportation system as well as cover the costs of the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the services it provides—including SLE. In December 2017, Governor Dannel P. Malloy released a statement warning officials that revenues for the fund are drying up and unless something is done, the fund will soon be insolvent, forcing the cancellation or deferral of numerous projects over the coming years.

That same month, the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) and DOT released a report highlighting a “grim scenario” for transportation if nothing is done to fix the fund.

“If we do not take action to increase revenues in the STF, the Connecticut Department of Transportation would be forced to significantly revise its operating budget and its five-year capital program. It would significantly reduce highway, rail, and bus services for the public, and reduce the capital program by over $4 billion over the next five years,” the report reads.

The projections suggest there could be a 50 percent reduction of SLE service by fiscal year 2019 and an elimination of the capital plan to replace rail cars on SLE.

Just this month Malloy reiterated the concern over the health of the transportation fund, formally highlighting nearly 400 projects worth more than $4 billion that will have been suspended over the next five years if nothing is done to keep the fund from insolvency. More information on potential plans to reinvigorate the fund are expected when Malloy presents his budget to the new legislative session in February.

For more information on SLE delays or cancellations, monitor shorelineeast.com for service updates and contact SLE at info@shorelineeast.com with questions.