CT DOT Bureau Chief Hopes Metro North Avoids Layoffs

(Hartford, Conn. WTIC)-The Bureau Chief of the Connecticut Department of Transportation hopes Metro North Railroad can avoid "doomsday cutbacks" as it faces a substantial decline in ridership because of Covid 19.
Metro North said earlier this week that unless Congress sends a 12-billlion dollar rescue package, 94-hundred employees will lose jobs and service will be decrease by as much as 50-percent.
Bureau Chief Richard Andreski labeled the situation as "serious, but not surprising." He notes that the state of Connecticut subsidizes the service and ultimately taxpayers are funders and have a lot at stake.
At it's peak, before Covid, Andreski observes that the New Haven line of Metro North accommodates 135-thousand riders on a daily basis. That number has been reduced substantially because many employees telework. "The quandary for us is these folks that are still working are essential workers. They may have no other access to other transportation. And when we talk about essential we mean health, groceries, logistics and transportation."
Andreski explains that a substantial portion of the budget is paid by rate payers, the riders." Since the riders aren't there anymore there is increasing pressure on the budget. ...We need to have the service ready when the pandemic is behind us".
Andreski says at its peak in 2018, ridership on the rail line from Springfield to New Haven boasted 22-hundred trips a day. Now he acknowledges it's 25-percent of that.
He appeared on the WTIC morning show.