RINALDI RETIRES AS MNRR PRESIDENT

“It's been the job of a lifetime,” says Catherine Rinaldi, Metro-North’s first female President, who is set to retire at the end of the month. “It's been just such an honor and a privilege to be able to lead this amazing organization… these heroes who performed the daily miracle (of running 700 trains) every day.” 

Miracle?  Hardly.  But with such an aging infrastructure and so many moving parts,  I’ve got to give Metro-North (and Ms. Rinaldi) credit for a job well done.

Rinaldi came to the railroad in 2003 as a lawyer and helped run Metro-North (and the LIRR for a while) through the dark days of COVID when more than 100  MTA workers died, as they kept service going while 90% of riders hunkered down in quarantine.

“The agency really rose to the occasion and continued to carry essential workers and continued to do what we needed to do to keep the region moving even during that very difficult, scary time.”

Asked what she thought were her greatest accomplishments during her tenure, she pointed to the railroad’s record high on-time performance and improved customer service ratings.

She did not mention the railroad’s huge improvements in communications… the TrainTime app, email and text notifications and vastly improved website.  Nor did she cite the Penn Station Access plan, the opening of Grand Central Madison, additional stations coming to the Bronx, infrastructure and accessibility improvements and new dual-mode locomotives on order.

But she did mention Metro-North’s finally installing PTC, Positive Train Control, hopefully eliminating human error tied to such incidents as the 2013 derailment at Spuyten Duyvil in the Bronx when four passengers died and 61 were injured. Despite this safety tech, our trains still run slower than decades ago, extending commute times.

She said the railroad is working with the FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) to improve speeds, calling it a “continuing dialogue”.  And she did plug the railroad’s three “super-express” early morning rush-hour trains from New Haven which make the run to Grant Central in 99 minutes… not quite the 60 minute trip time Governor Lamont called for in 2019.

I also asked President Rinaldi “what went wrong with the Quiet Car concept”.  She said she knew this was long-time issue in my advocacy for passengers but said, with ridership coming back strong (now 81% of pre-COVID on weekdays) she needs to make every seat in every car available to all.

Launched in 2012, the Quiet Car concept mimicked Amtrak and other railroads but was never properly enforced by conductors (just like the railroad’s COVID mask mandate) and was dropped during the pandemic (just like the masks).

“The quiet car (idea) is not something that I was looking to bring back,” she said. 

Neither is she optimistic about the railroad ever introducing Wi-Fi on trains, instead encouraging cell providers to fill coverage gaps along their routes.

First proposed in 2006, the Wi-Fi idea was endorsed by Governor Lamont and kickstarted in Connecticut with our legislature’s $23 million special appropriation to CDOT, money which seems to have disappeared. That leaves Metro-North as one of the only commuter lines in the US lacking this passenger-attracting amenity.

Public records show Rinaldi’s 2022 salary was $372,639 but in the private sector her many years of experience could bring her much more.  She demurred when I asked if she’d become a consultant like many of her predecessors.  Though she’s probably eligible for a nice pension, don’t expect to see her sitting on some beach.  “I don't think I'm ready to be like retired retired,” she said with a chuckle.

 

NEW LOCOMOTIVES - BATTERIES INCLUDED

The “green movement” has made great strides in transportation:  electric cars and buses are already running in Connecticut, helping reduce pollution.  And soon electric locomotives will be added to the mix.

The old diesel locomotives we used for decades were really dirty, spewing carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas), nitrogen oxides (contributing to acid rain), sulfur dioxide (more acid rain) and soot (think: asthma).

The old FL9 loco at Danbury Railway Museum

Those FL9 diesels came into service in the 1950s and ran on third-rail electric power into Grand Central, but are now history. (You can still see a couple at the Danbury Railway Museum.)  The old locos were so unreliable that they’d be left running (and spewing) all night at the Danbury station just to be sure they’d start in the morning. 

But now the MTA is ordering 13 battery-electric locomotives from Siemens Mobility North America.  They will run “under the wire” on the all-electric main line but rely on batteries along the unelectrified Danbury and Waterbury branches and for entering NYC.  They will also be essential for Metro-North’s plans to extend service to Penn Station where (like at Grand Central) diesel trains are not allowed.

Years ago, Danbury trains from GCT pulled by the old FL9s were often unable to use their third-rail “shoes” to leave the station under electric power.  Just before departure they’d unplug from “shore power” at GCT, shut off their HVAC system and fire up their diesel engines for the ten-minute trip through the Park Avenue tunnel.

The resulting pollution was intense, which is why they turned off the air circulation onboard until reaching 125^th Street.  The practice, though not frequent (I experienced it myself!) was technically illegal, but the railroad did it anyway.  Now this won’t be an issue anymore.

The new battery equipped locomotives will cost about $24 million each and should start arriving in 2029.

In the rest of the world it’s often cheaper to go with batteries than to electrify the rail lines. In Europe and Japan all-electric, battery powered trains are often used on commuter runs of up to 75 miles, recharging at stations in as little as 20 minutes.  Though the batteries are heavy, they can last 10-15 years before needing replacements (up to $1 million per engine). Like electric cars, there are fewer moving parts so maintenance is much easier.

Best of all, they’re quieter, cleaner and accelerate a lot faster.  And operating costs are cheaper given the cost of diesel fuel.  While diesel trains’ fuel cost $1.50 - $2.50 per mile to operate, battery powered trains cost only ten to thirty cents a mile.

And like our current M8 electric trains, the new locos will use regenerative braking, using their brakes as mini-generators to give the batteries a boost when slowing down.

Of course, all of this “greening” of Metro-North may wither on the vine if the MTA’s congestion pricing toll plan gets killed by the White House. So, as we say, “stay tuned for further developments”.