[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4560]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        METRO-NORTH TRAIN SAFETY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2013, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Engel) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, the Federal Railroad Administration's 
examination of the Metro-North railroad safety apparatus has been 
completed.
  I begin by offering my sincere condolences to the family and friends 
of Mr. James Romansoff, a Metro-North employee and a constituent of 
mine, a Yonkers resident, who died Monday after being hit by a train 
while performing track maintenance. My thoughts go out to his relatives 
and all who knew him, and I am deeply sorry for the family's loss.
  This morning, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal 
Railroad Administration released a report to Congress entitled, 
``Operation Deep Dive: Metro-North Commuter Railroad Safety 
Assessment.'' This report was prompted by the horrific train derailment 
that occurred in my district on December 1, 2013, which killed four and 
wounded dozens.
  I am sure I speak for all of my colleagues when I say that the safety 
and welfare of my constituents, of all of our constituents, is our 
number one priority. That is why I was dismayed to learn of the 
profoundly ineffective standards under which Metro-North--a rail system 
that thousands of my constituents depend on daily--has been operating.
  According to the FRA's report, which concentrated on Metro-North's 
``safety culture,'' this system is hampered by a strict adherence to 
train schedules; a safety apparatus that does not seek out potentially 
dangerous situations, but instead responds to complications after they 
arise; and inadequate training procedures.
  These ailments are indefensible and unwarranted. The FRA's report 
states:

       Detectable safety issues exist across multiple disciplines 
     that should have been discovered by the Metro-North 
     management.

  That is an indictment of Metro-North's management. No people should 
be killed because of incompetence. No people should have been killed 
because the person driving the train apparently fell asleep. Metro-
North's failure to monitor potential safety hazards is downright 
reckless. According to the Metropolitan Transit Authority, 
approximately 281,000 travelers use Metro-North trains every week, and 
those passengers' commutes are at risk from these safety hazards cited 
in the report.
  Getting people in and out of New York City, in and out of Manhattan, 
is an important task, and if it can't be done safely, then what good it 
is.
  The FRA's report makes several recommendations that, if implemented, 
might help prevent accidents in the future. According to the report, 
Metro-North is plagued by three fundamental problems: a destructive 
emphasize on timely departures and arrivals; the absence of proactive 
rather than reactive responses to safety concerns; and defective 
training procedures. Four serious Metro-North accidents occurred just 
last year, and that is four too many.
  I call upon Metro-North to immediately begin implementing the safety 
recommendations contained in the FRA report. The safety of thousands of 
passengers and Metro-North employees depends on it.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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