I also worked on the the concrete tie project along the Harlem Division back in the early 1990’s. One morning at Woodlawn the RTC called and he lost control of the interlocking and had requested us to take it on local control. Meaning we would be on the phone with the dispatcher and we would line the routes on the CTC board inside the “CIL” boxes. Simple right, no that failed also so “Plan C” was formed and we had to spend the morning rush hand cranking 85ft super switches via radio with GCT. PX90 has nothing on that!

MNCR has a severe “good buddies” culture problem (and most of the MTA does too), and until most of the upper management is replaced, or put in their place, nothing is going to change. Getting a new president is a good first step.

Any time FRA has to step in just to have proper track inspections performed, or issue an EO to keep engineers focused and prevent speeding, it is a clear sign that the RR hasn’t yet grasped their responsibilities towards their patrons. Looking at the inspection report from the FRA conducted (in May) by the geometry car shows that the problems were more serious than anyone knew, including some sections of track that came up 0 track class (excepted) over which it is ILLEGAL to move occupied trains. The speed restrictions following the SD incident were expected, just a way for MNCR to avoid spending more money making changes to the signal system (as required by the EO) before PTC installation BY 2015 (which we all know isn’t going to happen).

All in all it is not good enough to say “we’re better than everyone else” or “it aint as bad as it used to be”, it is far more necessary to focus on working towards being better than things are now (and to fully comply with all federal regulations, of course)!

Veteran commuters can remember diesel trains operating all the way into Grand Central, with their exhaust fumes wafting through the concourse. Also, a motley of collection of old cars were acquired from other railroads to keep service running.

Grand Central Terminal itself was very run down.

The New Haven line depended on the ancient Cos Cob power plant, which was very unreliable.

So, the MTA did indeed do a remarkable job reversing all the decay (as it also did on the Long Island Rail Road).

As to the speed restrictions in the wake of the Spuyten Duyvil accident, I hope that only those that are truly needed for safety remain in place, and others, perhaps not really needed, can be removed.

History aside, you’re spot on with your comparisons of trains to other modes of transportation. I stopped letting late trains bother me a long time ago!