Esty asks for congressional hearing on Metro-North disruption
Washington — Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, wasted no time in asking colleagues on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to request a congressional hearing on the Metro-North failure that will keep that commuter train line out of operations for weeks.
“As the increased ridership along the Northeast Corridor indicates, more and more Americans now look to rail to meet their transit needs,” Esty wrote key members of the committee. “It is an engine for economic growth in Connecticut, bearing a terrific return on investment. As a member of the Rail Subcommittee, I therefore stand ready and willing to assist in finding expert witnesses capable of identifying the steps we can take to protect against future breakdowns and delays like the one now hampering businesses and workers across the entire region.”
Esty may have found a sympathetic ear in the transportation committee’s chairman, Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., who in June rode a trade from New Haven to Hartford that broke down and was sent back to New Haven. But it remains to be seen if the GOP-controlled panel is willing to help Esty.
The problem at Metro-North began Wednesday, when a Consolidated Edison feeder cable in Mount Vernon, N.Y., failed, disrupting service on the New Haven line between Stamford and New York’s Grand Central terminal.
