Letter to Joseph Giulietti, President of Metro-North - Rail Safety
Letter
Dear President Joseph J. Giulietti,
We write today to raise serious concerns about the derailment that occurred last night as a Metro-North train was leaving the platform at Grand Central Terminal. Luckily, no injuries have been reported, however, as with any accident this derailment should be fully investigated and the causes should be immediately addressed. While we understand that it is still too early to fully understand what happened, we urge you to conduct a thorough and rigorous investigation into the derailment and ask that you report back to us on any and all of your findings.
We understand that in the last year Metro-North has been working to improve safety across its system. However, given the serious threat that derailments can pose to the traveling public we cannot let any issues go unaddressed and Metro-North must remain vigilant in its pursuit of the highest possible safety standards. This accident must be fully investigated and any issues which arise through the course of that investigation must be immediately addressed.
Following previous incidents the NTSB found that Metro-North had a policy of deferred maintenance and that it had prioritized on-time performance over the safety of the traveling public -- this was simply unacceptable. As Metro-North works to improve its safety culture, addressing and preventing issues like the one that occurred last night is critical. Riders deserve to be confident that Metro-North is adequately addressing maintenance needs and prioritizing safety across its entire system. Furthermore, in the rare and unlikely event that an issue does occur Metro-North must move deliberately and swiftly to address it.
We urge you to complete a thorough investigation and report back to us on both your findings and any necessary actions to prevent derailments like the one that occurred yesterday. In addition, please update us on the latest findings and your planned reforms stemming from two incidents that occurred just last month -- a passenger death and two trains sideswiping each other -- which we understand are also under investigation. Should you need further information or if you have additional questions please do not hesitate to contact our offices.
Sincerely,
Source