Trains, Pains, and Transit Ordeals

At 6:23 a.m. on one of winter’s coldest mornings the platform of the Branford train station is empty. This is not because the 6:20 a.m. Shore Line East (SLE) commuter rail came, picked up the travelers, and then moved on as it is scheduled to do each workday.  The platform is vacant because the train has not arrived yet, and its expectant passengers are seated in the warmth of their own cars in the parking lot.

Several minutes roll by and it begins to look like the 6:20 a.m. won’t be showing up at all. As 6:40 a.m. approaches, car doors begin to open and restless Branford commuters march towards the platform.  The scheduled 6:45 a.m. should be here briefly.

Realizing that I only have a few minutes to acquire some public opinion before the train arrives I begin to ask people about their experience with SLE. The first to offer his opinion is Ben, who takes the SLE each morning into New Haven and then picks up another train into Milford for work.  Ben travels at peak hours and confesses that he hasn’t had too many issues with the rail, except for a few weeks ago when the train had been a no-show, and there had been no announcement for its absence. He thinks for a moment and then adds that they’re usually pretty bad about keeping the passengers updated with things such as delays and cancellations.

A lady nearby nods in agreement. Preferring to remain nameless, she recounts how this has been a rough winter, particularly because the delays are frequent and unexplained. She has been riding SLE for the past three years and feels that, for the most part, the service is good.  “Thank God, it’s here, anyways.”

Her sentiment about SLE reflects their recent state survey which shows that SLE riders give the rail service high marks, with more than 84 percent of commuters rating their overall satisfaction as a 1 or 2 – the highest ratings on a scale of 1 to 7.  

The survey conducted by the Connecticut Department of Transportation found that nearly all riders felt SLE service was "as good as or better than a year ago." However less than half stated that the railroad has improved over the past year. 

I asked if she had any recommendations for SLE; a way to better the customer experience. It seems as though she’s had time to think about this one, because her response is immediate. She proposes that when you buy the ticket you can offer your e-mail address or phone number, and if the schedule is interrupted for any reason, they should send out a digital update (e-mail or text message).  This way, customers can be made aware of the problem before it begins to eat into their own time.

She tells me that there is a phone number you can call for updates in the event the train doesn’t show, but the updates are consistently inaccurate (203-777-7433).

“The representative will tell you that the train is on time, but then it shows up late.  Maybe the communication is not there.  It’s crazy to deal with because it messes with your schedule.”

As a testament to her word, I find that most of the people awaiting this train have this phone number programmed into their phones.  In fact, several are dialing it as I turn to another waiting passenger.

David rides the SLE four days each week into New Haven, and then picks up the Metro-North to Stamford for work. “It’s great that we have [SLE]; I couldn’t commute otherwise, but it hasn’t been reliable this winter. Sometimes they have you switch trains and you don’t know why. They don’t tell you.”

I asked him to elaborate and he points at my watch which reads 6:53 a.m.

“They’re ten minutes late. And the 6:20 didn’t show.”

I look down the tracks to see if the train is coming to no avail. I listen for the telltale humming of an oncoming train riding down the rail and can only hear the tapping of impatient feet on the cement of the platform. The digital sign hasn’t posted any new information and I didn’t even realize there was a PA system until someone points it out to me.

David has some speculation as to why the rail-line suffers from these inconsistencies.  He tells me that it’s the engines that are the problem.

“The cars are just shells that move with the engine.  The engines are unreliable because we’re buying old equipment.  These engines were bought from another line in Virginia, and most of them are over 20 years old.”

Chris Ventre of Branford says, “Shore Line East does a terrible job of communicating with customers.  They don’t use the digital board, and when you call the service they give you a non-updated automated message.”

I ask him about his daily commute; Ventre takes the SLE to Union Station in New Haven and then picks up the Metro-North into New York.  I inquire about the Metro-North, which, , is a service that is also suffering from .

“The Metro-North is fine: no issue. At least they communicate with their customers, which is 90 percent of customer satisfaction. Just tell us,” said Ventre.

Chandra feels that Metro-North has room for improvements. She hasn’t ridden it in two years, and deliberately takes another train to circumvent having to ­­– at her own inconvenience.

“Metro-North cars never have the heat or air-conditioning working properly. It’s disgusting: I’ve seen roaches on [the cars]. They were talking about getting new cars two years ago, and they’re still not here.  At least the employees are empathetic.”

She takes an earlier, local train into the city but its few operating times do not cater well to her schedule.  She has seven minutes to get from work to board the train, or gets to wait two hours for the next one. She finds this mode of transportation preferable to riding the Metro-North.

At ten-minutes past seven the platform is almost empty again, but not because the train came and went… the passengers have returned to the warmth of their cars. A few ladies remain optimistically seated on the benches, shivering.

I overhear one telling another that she’s just going to have to drive, as she gets up and leaves the platform.  She’s halfway to her car when a voice comes over the PA system: “Good morning folks, sorry for the late update…”

At 7:12 a.m. the passengers waiting for the 6:20 a.m., 6:45 a.m., and the 7:23 a.m. all find out in unison that the three trains are being combined into one this morning; sorry for the inconvenience, stand clear as the train approaches. The silence of the parking lot is broken by the opening and closing of car doors as passengers return to the platform.

Editor’s note: Branford Patch has heard a lot of buzz about Metro-North, their winter weather train malfunctions and their unfulfilled promises of a new fleet of cars that are yet to be put in service. Hoping to see how train commuting affects Branford, writer Jonathan Friedler headed down to our local station to investigate.