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Conn. Transit Advocate: Metro-North Not Transparent About 'Slow Orders'

DARIEN, Conn. (CBSNewYork) - The chairman of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council has resigned as is speaking out about slowdowns on Metro-North Railroad.

As WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau reported, Jim Cameron stepped down from the council but continues to keep a close eye on the train line.

He complains the railroad has not been open and honest about the fact that scheduled routes have increased by anywhere from two to 10 minutes because of track work.

Conn. Transit Advocate: Metro-North Not Transparent About Slow Orders

But Metro-North spokesman Aaron Donovan said the reason for the delays in track work in the Bronx. That, Donovan said, has forced the railroad to recalibrate its schedules. New schedules were printed earlier this month.

"Because we were noticing that these schedules that we had posted prior to July were becoming unreliable and there were a higher than normal number of delays," Donovan told Schneidau.

Cameron balked at that assessment, arguing the aging infrastructure has forced the railroad to slow the trains down.

"What's really going on is that Metro-North has placed slow orders on the entire railroad as a result of the investigations after the collision and the derailment in May. They found so many areas with problems that they could not immediately fix that they have had to slow the entire railroad down," Cameron told Schneidau.

Following a federal probe into the Bridgeport derailment and collision, Metro-North acknowledged track maintenance is behind schedule. Cameron said that until the tracks are fixed, trains will be unable to run at full speed.

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