Meeting of the Metro-North Railroad Committee September 2018 Members S. Metzger N. Brown R. Glucksman C. Moerdler M. Pally A. Saul V. Vanterpool J. Vitiello C. Wortendyke N. Zuckerman Metro-North Railroad Committee Meeting 2 Broadway 20th floor Board Room New York, NY Monday, 9/24/2018 8:30 - 9:30 AM ET 1. PUBLIC COMMENTS PERIOD 2. Approval of Minutes Minutes - Page 4 3. 2018 Work Plan MNR Work Plan - Page 15 4. President’s Report Safety Report Safety Report - Page 22 MTA Police Report MTA Police Report - Page 26 5. Information Items MNR Information Items - Page 38 2019 Preliminary Budget (Public Comment) 2018 Mid-Year Forecast 2018 Mid-Year Forecast - Page 39 2018 Fall Schedule Change 2018 Fall Schedule Change - Page 49 PTC Status Report PTC Status Report - Page 51 6. Action Item MNR Action Item - Page 62 NYSDOT Grant for Connecting Services NYSDOT Grant for Connecting Services - Page 63 7. MNR Procurements MNR Procurements - Page 64 Non-Competitive Procurements MNR Non-Competitive Procurements - Page 68 Competitive Procurements MNR Competitive Procurements - Page 77 Ratifications - None 8. Monthly Reports MNR Operations Report MNR Operations Report - Page 83 MNR Finance Report MNR Finance Report - Page 105 MNR Ridership Report MNR Ridership Report - Page 147 MNR Capital Program Report MNR Capital Program Report - Page 169 Next Meeting: Joint meeting with LIRR on Monday, October 22, 2018 at 8:30 a.m. Minutes of the Regular Meeting Metro-North Committee Monday, July 23, 2018 Meeting held at 2 Broadway – 20th Floor New York, New York 10004 8:30 a.m. The following members were present: Hon. Susan G. Metzger, Chair of the Metro-North Committee Hon. Mitchell H. Pally, Chair of the Long Island Rail Road Committee Hon. Randy Glucksman Hon. Charles G. Moerdler Hon. Veronica Vanterpool Not Present: Hon. Norman Brown Hon. Andrew Saul Hon. James E. Vitiello Hon. Carl V. Wortendyke Hon. Neal J. Zuckerman Also Present: Hon. Scott Rechler Hon. Vincent Tessitore, Jr. Catherine Rinaldi – President, Metro-North Railroad Susan J. Doering – Executive Vice President, Metro-North Railroad Richard L. Gans – Vice President and General Counsel Glen Hayden – Vice President, Engineering Yvonne Hill-Donald - Vice President, Human Resources John Kennard – Vice President – Capital Programs John Kesich – Senior Vice President, Operations Mark Mannix – Sr. Director, Corporate and Public Affairs Joseph McGrann – Chief of Operations, MTA Police Department Andrew Paul – Vice President, Labor Relations Michael Shiffer – Vice President, Planning Justin Vonashek – Vice President, System Safety Steve Weiss – Executive Director Management and Budget Chair Metzger called the meeting to order. PUBLIC COMMENT Orrin Getz, Vice Chairman Metro-North Railroad Commuter Council, stated that he is pleased that Metro-North is considering the purchase of 15 new locomotives for use on the Port Jervis Line. He noted that the current locomotives are between 40 and 50 years old. The new locomotives will have 4400 horse power, be able to pull longer trains, will be tier four compliant and have a top speed of 125 miles per hour, bringing the railroad into the 21st century. He stated that ________________________________________________________________________________ Master Page # 4 of 178 - Metro-North Railroad Committee Meeting 9/24/2018 Metro-North should consider acquiring new passenger cars for the planned increase in service on the Port Jervis Line. He suggested that the railroad buy new multi-level coaches of the same type as those that comprise a major part of the New Jersey Transit fleet. Mr. Getz commented on a June 12, 2018 meeting between Metro-North senior staff and Rockland County Executive Ed Day during which there was a discussion regarding restoration of the second Pascack Valley Line express train and a review of the operating agreement with New Jersey Transit, repair of the Nanuet Station and improvements to the Suffern Station. Mr. Getz stated that Metro-North should work toward constructing a new station at Woodbury Commons. Mr. Getz noted that he attended the New Jersey Transit Board meeting with Board member Glucksman, and stated that New Jersey Transit is behind on the installation of Positive Train Control (PTC) and may not make the deadlines. Jason Pinero stated that he is glad to see that PTC is on the Committee agenda. He stated that there is a lack of transit options on the northwestern side of the Bronx. He would like the Committee to consider the petition for a Hudson ticket, stating that it would be cost effective and could benefit commuters between Grand Central Terminal and Riverdale. Murray Bodin expressed his opinion that the issues he has commented on in past, including, the red box painted on the roadway at the Roaring Brook Road crossing, would be better addressed by a consultant. Additional details of the comments made by the public speakers are contained in the video recording of the meeting produced by the MTA and maintained in the MTA records. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Committee approved the minutes of the June 18, 2018 Metro-North Committee meeting. METRO-NORTH 2018 WORK PLAN There are no changes to the Metro-North’s 2018 Work Plan. PRESIDENT’S REPORT President Rinaldi gave a report on service delivery. She noted that the railroad has faced many challenges that affected service in the months of May and June and that service has not improved much in July. She discussed the challenges the railroad is facing and the steps the railroad is taking to address those challenges. She noted that in 2014, the railroad participated in Operation Deep Dive and the Blue Ribbon Panel on Safety. In addition, former President Giulietti and Glen Hayden returned to Metro-North. President Rinaldi noted that at that time, there was a lot of discussion regarding the trade-offs between on-time performance and safety. She noted that on-time performance is important, however, the railroad is always committed to safety. There were also discussions regarding how the railroad had neglected the infrastructure and had not given the Track Department the time they needed to perform cyclical maintenance. President Rinaldi stated that the railroad promised never to go back to the time when the infrastructure was neglected and the railroad lives up to that promise today. President Rinaldi stated that the railroad is experiencing the after effects of that promise, noting that a great deal of work is being done throughout Metro-North’s territory. On the Hudson Line, the Sandy Project and cyclical track maintenance are being performed. President Rinaldi reported that an aggressive schedule change was instituted on the Harlem Line to enable the White Plains Station rehabilitation to be completed as quickly as possible. She noted that an ________________________________________________________________________________ Master Page # 5 of 178 - Metro-North Railroad Committee Meeting 9/24/2018 enormous amount of work is being done on the New Haven Line, including undercutting. Because of this work, the railroad has lost the ability to bounce back if a problem arises because so many tracks have been taken out of service. President Rinaldi noted that a sustained effort is needed to get the railroad back to where it should be. The railroad remains committed to performing the work necessary to bring the infrastructure back into a state of good repair. President Rinaldi noted that it will take more than five years to accomplish the necessary work. President Rinaldi reported that to address poor service performance, the railroad is halting the undercutting work and is redeploying its resources to address drainage and infrastructure issues on the New Haven Line, noting that once these issues are resolved, there should be an improvement in the railroad’s running times. She noted that the undercutter will be brought back at a later date. President Rinaldi stated that having two tracks out of service in the heart of the New Haven Line has too much of an effect on performance. She stated that the railroad needs to continue with the infrastructure work as that work and the safety of Metro-North’s customers is too important. She stated that the railroad needs to balance the work being done with the impact the work is having on customers and the railroad will continue to monitor customer feedback regarding their experiences. President Rinaldi noted that customer complaints have risen with most complaints related to late and cancelled trains. President Rinaldi reported that the railroad has seen declining performance of the Genesis locomotive fleet which has affected Metro-North’s upper Hudson Line customers. At a prior Committee meeting, the railroad indicated that it wanted to defer replacing the M-3 fleet and decided not to exercise its option on the M-9 contract. President Rinaldi noted an item to be voted on later in this meeting is a request to use the Request for Proposal (RFP) process to replace that fleet. President Rinaldi noted that the railroad needs to do two things: (1) bridge the gap by improving the performance of the locomotive fleet until the new locomotives arrive on Metro-North property and can be put into service and (2) obtain new locomotives on its property as soon as possible. President Rinaldi stated that the PTC Report is in the Committee book as an information item and will be discussed in detail at the CPOC meeting to be held this day. She noted that the PTC project has also had an impact on performance this summer because equipment has been taken out of service for PTC installation, cutting into the railroad’s spare margin. The railroad has also encountered service problems on equipment that has been equipped with PTC. President Rinaldi reported that the railroad is in the process of instituting a customer based strategic plan called “Way Ahead.” This plan will be unveiled in the first week of October during National Customer Service Week.