A breakdown inside the Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road says its monster snowplow, called "Darth Vader," was unavailable for the Jan. 4, 2018, blizzard because it was damaged when hit by a car. Credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara
So why, exactly, during the first blizzard of the year, was the Long Island Rail Road without its so-called “Darth Vader,” the massive plow it has used to clear the rails since 2013?
And why, exactly, in recent months did the LIRR have available only two of the machines it uses to reshape train wheels damaged by slime from fall leaves?
And why, exactly, is it so difficult for people at the LIRR to talk to one another?
After the LIRR’s recent horrific string of delays, service suspensions and equipment breakdowns, President Patrick Nowakowski tried to answer those questions this week at a Metropolitan Transportation Authority meeting.
He pointed fingers, blaming everything from a car that hit and damaged Darth Vader, to Amtrak, for its neglect of the East River tunnels and Penn Station tracks, and for work it is doing at the West Side Yard that has prevented the LIRR from using its third wheel-truing machine there. He didn’t take much blame himself. He had an answer to everything and yet, his answers were insufficient.
Most troubling was the discussion about communication internally in LIRR operations, and with its customers. Fixing problems on the tracks, Nowakowski said, “requires people to talk to people. None of the people are in the same room. That’s a problem.”
In 2018, it shouldn’t be a problem to find ways for people to talk to people when they are in different places. Try Skype or FaceTime or chat channels like Slack. We did not hear about a system for engineers and track workers to alert others to problems. Communications must be an integral part of operations so timely information can get to commuters. The LIRR lacks a central command center, and the idea is worth considering, but there’s plenty the railroad can do without one.
Matt Davies
This week, MTA board member Scott Rechler called the inability to communicate, especially with riders, a “failure on our part.” He’s right. And Nowakowski doesn’t seem to get that. “I was unconvinced by everything he said,” MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota said. So were we.
The LIRR can’t control the weather, and it has the right to blame Amtrak for recent trouble at Penn Station and in the East River tunnels. But there are no excuses for not having the equipment it needs when leaves fall or snowstorms hit. Get resources elsewhere in the MTA or from other rail operators to make sure wheel-truing machines, monster snowplows and train cars are ready to go.
The LIRR has a deeper problem that mechanics and engineers cannot fix. It needs to change its culture, and its executives’ habits of making excuses and finding others to blame. It needs to change the low-key, cavalier attitude that doing nothing is the safest decision. Good managers take risks.
There needs to be a thorough public accounting by the state comptroller of what went wrong with the LIRR these past two months and, importantly, of who’s responsible. Until there is an action plan and accountability, the railroad must at least find a way for its people to talk to each other — even when they’re not in the same room.
