By ELIZABETH KELLY
Three prominent regional senators and the head of the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday joined a chorus of criticism, lambasting Metro North for not doing enough to insure the safety of passengers.
Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York labeled the train line “a horror house of negligence” at a Grand Central Station news conference where his criticism was echoed by both Democratic Connecticut senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and NTSB acting chairman Christopher Hart.
The officials also leveled withering criticism at the the Federal Railway Commission, charged with overseeing Metro North.
“The FRA hasn’t adopted dozens of recommendations from the N.T.S.D,” said Murphy, “because they seem more interested in cutting corners than saving lives.”
The Senators said that they intended to introduce federal legislature requiring the FRA and Metro North to meet higher standards of railroad safety.
According to Senator Blumenthal, the legislation, called the Rail Transportation Safety Act, “will compel the Federal Railway Administration to advance the cause of rail safety.”
“The Metro North and the F.R.A have deferred maintenance and prioritized on-time performance and we can’t allow that to continue,”added Schumer.
Between May, 2013 and March, 2014, five accidents occurred on the railroad, killing six people and injuring 126 others. Blumenthal alleged inspections were missed and repeated warning signs were ignored.
Sixty three recommendations were made by the NTSB to the Federal Railway Administration, but they have not yet been enforced, according to Murphy.
Blumenthal stressed that if these recommendations weren’t met, “more lives will be lost.”
“The Secretary of Transportation and the President of the United States ought to come down hard on the FRA. The FRA is breaking the law,” said Blumenthal.
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