A distraught Metro-North conductor stunned his riders on Monday when he left a lengthy personal apology on 500 seats for mistakenly telling commuters to take an express train that was canceled.
Michael Shaw, 48, said the trouble began last Friday when a 6:46 a.m. local train out of New Haven couldn’t leave the yard because of a brake problem.
He said in the letter that whenever that local train is delayed because it has to switch equipment, his 6:52 a.m. express train runs local instead.
The 6:46 train then typically runs express after the equipment is switched in the yard.
Shaw said he told riders on his train wishing to take an express to wait on the platform for a train that would be coming behind his. But Shaw didn’t realize the first train had been canceled altogether.
“When I heard that news I was shocked & furious, and I still am,” he wrote.
Shaw said he was upset because he wasn’t told the train had been canceled, and because he made a “huge mistake” in telling passengers to trust him and wait for the express train.
He also took to Twitter and said he didn’t want to go work after riders had been left stranded, and blamed the issue on communication.
“I am as sick of apologizing to you as you are of hearing it,” he wrote. “Like I tell my kids its ok to apologize for something but its even more important not to let it happen again.”
Shaw, a 30-year veteran conductor and union president, told The Post that he decided to write the letter because he felt bad over the weekend.
After he gave it out, riders shook his hand, and even hugged him.
“They told me not to worry about it,” he said.
Riders said they were touched by it.
“I’ve heard conductors make apologies on the PA system for late trains,” said Jim Cameron, head of the Commuter Action Group. “But never in 20+ years as a commuter have I heard of a conductor who cared enough to make a written apology, make hundreds of copies at his own expense, and distribute them to his passengers.”
Instagram user Ann Marie Lombardo posted a picture of the letter on her feed.
“Apology letters from the awesome conductor of the 6:52 a.m.,” she wrote. “This guy is great. Metro North still sucks.”
The MTA said information about train service should come through channels like the MTA Web site or e-mail alerts.
“Conductor Mike Shaw is one of the many Metro-North Railroad employees who care deeply about our customers, and his open letter expresses the same frustration that customers and employees alike feel about the railroad’s recent challenges,” said spokeswoman Marjorie Anders. “While we share his concerns, we do not condone his methods of communicating them.”