MTA Union Head: Cuts To Maintenance Is A Danger
NEW YORK (WCBS 880/AP) - MTA Chairman Jay Walder is ruling out a fare hike or service cuts to reduce costs, but the union president John Samuelson warns to look toward maintenance.
WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reports even though the governor cut $100 million from the MTA budget, Walder told lawmakers service cuts and fare increases are off the table.
WCBS 880's Rich Lamb spoke with union president John Samuelson
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So, where can they reduce cost to meet their budget? Samuelson says the only place is in maintenance.
"As is it right now the maintenance costs on the railroad tracks are stretched thin ensuring that there are no derailment conditions that exist every morning at rush hour. So, if maintenance is hit on the subway side of the house we literally will go back to the days of the 1970s where trains were derailing every week," said Samuelson.
Samuelson told Lamb it would be an absolute danger to subway riders.
