This week the power got zapped along the Metro North commuter lines causing long delays and great uncertainty. With the sky blue and not a cloud in sight, it was difficult to comprehend a situation that could cripple the line from Fairfield County to NYC, let alone for three weeks.
Turns out trains are not only susceptible to wind, rain, and snow, decaying infrastructure is perhaps its greatest vulnerability.
Metro North claimed it was Con Ed’s problem. Con Ed said they were upgrading the back-up power per Metro North instructions. With no operational back-up to this transitional state, the system was ripe for such a catastrophe.
Regardless of who is to blame or why, the fact that commuters must now fend for themselves for the next three weeks seems
unfathomable. The MTA website advised that people should stay home, as if that’s an option for the many who don’t get paid if they don’t show up.
Earlier this year, a derailment in Fairfield seriously injured 60 passengers. After Hurricane Sandy, the trains were out for days.
I remember thinking about what life would be like in the 21st Century when I was in grade school. Neil Armstrong had just taken one giant leap for mankind. I assumed people would be living on the moon. But after the first oil crisis in 1973 and I wondered if the country would run out of oil before I was old enough to get my driver’s license.
When I lived in England in the late 80’s the trains there were always late. Central London stations were routinely evacuated due to IRA bomb scares.
When I moved to Fairfield County in the early 90’s, I was impressed with Metro North’s punctuality. Twenty odd years later, I often feel like I’m on a train to New Delhi. Seriously. Sometimes the train bounces so much, my back aches.
To avoid further hazards we are going to have to make the investment in repairs and routine maintenance because the costs of not doing it are substantial as we all discovered the hard way here in Fairfield County.