A scathing federal report on Metro-North Railroad’s “deficient safety culture” didn’t go far enough — and needed more specific deadlines, as well as a call for larger management changes — Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said Friday.
“Incompetence must have consequences,” he said. “So far, Metro-North has been silent on whether anyone has been shown the door.”
Blumenthal said he will schedule congressional hearings on Metro-North within a month, and said the Federal Railroad Administration needs to be a better watchdog.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) also said he will send a letter Friday urging the MTA to use the FRA report as a magnifying glass on the LIRR to make sure similar tragedies don’t occur. “It could have happened on Long Island,” he said. “We want a thorough investigation.”
New Metro-North President Joseph Giulietti said the report confirmed his initial sense that safety was not the railroad’s top priority.
“The report you see is deeply troubling and raises real concern,” said Giulietti, who took over Feb. 10. “It confirms my initial assessment of Metro-North culture and priorities … Safety was not the top priority. It must be and it will be.”
Giulietti said the railroad will report back to the FRA in May on their progress with the report’s specific safety requests, such as analyzing train schedules to make sure there is enough time for track inspection and maintenance.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday he had spoken to MTA chairman Thomas Prendergast and was confident that reform was happening. “I understand the priority of on-time service. People want that too, but more important is safety, and they get it.”
Riders’ advocates had strong reactions to the report. “It was even worse than we thought,” said Jim Cameron of the Commuter Action Group, an advocate for Connecticut riders. “This brief report confirms our worst suspicions about Metro-North.”
The Metro-North Railroad Commuter Council, which covers New York riders, called for quick action. “Metro-North Railroad must act promptly and decisively to put its operation in order,” said its chair, Randolph Gluckman.
Giulietti also said Friday that the railroad was hiring many new people to cope with both retirement vacancies, which the report flagged as a problem, and the heightened focus on safety.
The new hires include a senior director of training and development, an engineering vice president and a new chief transportation officer.
FRA investigators had probed Metro-North after a maintenance worker was killed and three trains derailed in 2013, including a Bronx train that killed four people.
“It was one of the really ugly sites in my life, and I have seen a lot of tragedies,” Cuomo said.