This past June, New York & Atlantic Railway, the short-line railroad that operates fright service on Long Island for the LIRR, executed a 10-year extension to their operating agreement with the LIRR. The original agreement, the term of which started in April 1997, was due to expire this coming April, but included a provision that allowed NY&AR to extend the contract for ten more years (through 2027), with or without the MTA or the LIRR’s blessing, provided five conditions are met. I wrote a little bit more about these conditions and the contact extension back in March. The five conditions are:
- NY&AR has not violated any terms of the original agreement
- NY&AR’s safety record for the three years leading up to April 2017 is equal to or higher than the national average for Class C railroads for that period (LIRR-caused accidents are excluded)
- NY&AR moves an average of 24,474 or more cars per year in the three years leading up to April 2017
- NY&AR has invested at least $14,968,920 in capital improvements
- NY&AR informs the LIRR in writing they want to renew the contract two years before April 2017
NY&AR has had a rough couple of years recently and had been under investigation by the FRA as a result of several accidents and safety lapses. The contract was renewed this past June, before the FRA’s final report was issued, but the MTA did not inform the fare- and taxpayers of this decision at the time—the news only came out less than a month ago after an inquiry from Newsday regarding the freight deal.
In their response to Newsday, MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas Prendergast said, “in light of the FRA findings, MTA will explore all options, including how freight service on LIRR moves forward, to ensure the highest safety standards are met”. Newsday also reported that MTA officials did not rule out severing the agreement or putting the freight contact out to bid—and I think that is 100% the wrong direction to go. On an island where there are [boisterous] groups of people, like residents along the right of way in Glendale and the western end of the proposed Third Main Line Track corridor, petrified by the thought of more freight trains running through their backyards, the MTA and LIRR’s attention and message should be focused on transferring their good safety practices over to NY&AR (so they can operate freight service safely) instead of trying to find a way to weasel out of a contract they signed.
The contract with NY&AR is clear, and if they have met the criteria to exercise the extension, then the only way to get out of it would be to buy NY&AR out, and they’ll probably want a pretty big pile of money for that (and if they didn’t, NY&AR could sue to keep operating and most likely win). And the LIRR is a common carrier, so they have an obligation to provide freight service—if they ditch NY&AR, they would either have to run the freight trains themselves or find a whole new operator, or risk breaching contracts signed with the individual freight customers. The whole thing would be a giant legal mess and not an appropriate use of the public’s money.
The MTA and LIRR are definitely not blameless in NY&AR’s recent spate of incidents. These are still LIRR tracks, and incidents affect LIRR passengers. The LIRR is ultimately responsible for what happens on their property. If your dog comes into your house and poops all over your living room floor, who’s really at fault? The pet, or the pet owner who didn’t make sure the dog was house trained properly before allowing it inside? Freight service is good for Long Island, and if anything, there should be more of it. Instead of regressing 20 years and trying to find a new operator, work to make sure NY&AR is doing the best job possible, in a safe and economical way—that is what I think is the best direction for the MTA and LIRR to go in now, and see if NY&AR can improve before dropping them.
