Malloy wants to end Metro-North’s use of single power lines

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Monday called for an investigation into whether the Metro-North rail line should ever rely on one power line to service the trains responsible for transporting thousands of commuters.

“Since we now know what a catastrophic event looks like based on what’s happened in New York, I don’t want to see that happen anywhere else on the line and certainly don’t want to see it happen in Connecticut,” Malloy told reporters during a Monday morning press conference at the State Armory in Hartford.

“I think they are going to have to develop a new protocol so that we don’t have one-line feeds ever again on the system,” the governor said. “I think that they need to develop literally overnight protocols that will not lead to any additional single feeds.”

Power to the New York-Connecticut line — one of the nation’s busiest commuter lines — was lost last Wednesday. Diesel-powered rail cars have helped replaced 50 percent of the lost capacity.

“I know there’s frustration and anger,” Malloy said, adding that there are some situations where trains couldn’t let more waiting passengers on board.

The rail is expected to be fully operational by Oct. 7, Malloy said.