Home Asides Links: Prendergast talks safety as MTA applies for $1 billion loan

Links: Prendergast talks safety as MTA applies for $1 billion loan

by Benjamin Kabak

In the aftermath of last month’s fatal Metro-North derailment, MTA Chairman and CEO Tom Prendergast knew he had to act quickly and decisively to confront safety concerns. The commuter railroads were unlikely to be compliant a federal mandate to install positive train control by the end of 2015, and public perception was starting to weigh against Metro-North. To speed up the project, estimated to cost at least $670 million, the MTA has applied for a $1 billion loan from the feds, Ted Mann of the Wall Street Journal reports today.

Meanwhile, Mann also spoke with Prendergast about his previous experiences with safety concerns. As a young engineer in Chicago in the 1970s, the current MTA head had to face down similar problems after a pair of fatal CTA derailments. Prendergast is hoping to strike the right balance between a reliance on technology and the need for human decision-making. It’s not an easy balancing act, and time is not on the MTA’s side.

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5 comments

Remodeling MTA project January 3, 2014 - 4:45 pm

Whats another billion dollar loan going to to to make the remodeling project safer? It all goes to the greasy hands. Hopefully the MTA will get it right this time.

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Ralffff January 4, 2014 - 1:42 pm

1st Link broken

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ckrueger99 January 4, 2014 - 2:27 pm Reply
anon January 4, 2014 - 4:41 pm

“the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it expected to spend $670 million installing PTC on Metro-North and LIRR.”

” MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast…applied for a $1 billion loan from the Federal Railroad Administration to cover the cost of the installation.”

So…what’s the other $330 million for?

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D. Graham January 5, 2014 - 10:57 pm

Cost overruns.

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