Metro-North Railroad &
the Connecticut Department of Transportation:
A True Partnership
For over two decades, Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT) and MTA Metro-North (MNR) have been partners in improving the New Haven Line. Funded by the state of Connecticut, CDOT was formed in 1895 to oversee a town aid program for local highway and bridge improvements. Today, it is also responsible for a multitude of transportation programs and projects in Connecticut involving highways, rail service, bus systems, airports, ferries, State Pier operations, highway safety, and other transportation efforts.
Metro-North Railroad is an agency of New York State’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Metro-North was formed in 1983 when the MTA assumed control of Conrail commuter operations in the state of New York.
Over the past twenty years, both agencies have put over a billion dollars into capital improvements in a railroad system that was allowed to falter for almost five decades. Both agencies share the costs and the responsibility for the maintenance of the New Haven Line.
Operations
Metro-North is responsible for the daily operations of the New Haven main line. However, both agencies decide on train schedules and how many cars are assigned to a train. This relationship is different on the branch lines (the New Canaan, Waterbury, and Danbury branches), where only CDOT oversees the schedules.
Fares
Both MTA and CDOT must approve fares for travel on the New Haven Main line. In practice, MTA has set the fares within New York State. CDOT controls fares on the Connecticut portion of the line as well as fares for travel between New York and Connecticut.
Capital Improvements
The costs for making improvements to “fixed assets”— putting in new rail, building maintenance shops, making station improvements, or replacing catenary lines--are divided at the states' border. MTA pays for improvements on the New York side, while CDOT oversees things on the Connecticut end.
There are numerous station and parking facilities, that are owned by local municipalities, and neither CDOT or the MTA is responsible for their maintenance.
An example of a significant improvement to a fixed asset is the replacement of the catenary system in New York, a project encompassing some 12 route miles that was finished a decade ago. In Connecticut, replacement of the catenary—some 47 route miles--is currently underway.
The cost of new trains, or rolling stock, is shared by both agencies. Once both parties agree to purchase rolling stock, the purchase is a 65-35 percent split, with CDOT paying for the higher percentage.
Capital Improvements – continued
Both agencies rely to one extent or another on government funding. CDOT primarily relies on federal funding for its capital expenditures. MTA raises its funds through the sale of bonds backed by revenues, and receives New York State and federal aid.
New Trains on the New Haven Line
Rolling stock for the New Haven Line is more expensive than for the Hudson and Harlem lines in part because New Haven Line trains have to be “dual-powered” (AC and DC, in order to run on the catenary as well as on third rail).
Operating Costs
Public transportation is not a profit-making venture. That which is not paid out of the fare box is paid for by taxpayer subsidies. (The operating deficit is arrived at by subtracting revenues from the total costs of operating.) CDOT assumes 65 percent of the operating deficit for the main line plus 100 percent for the three branch lines (New Canaan, Waterbury and Danbury), while MTA is responsible for the balance, or 35 percent, of the main line deficit.