(rshsdepot) Darien, CT

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From today's Stamford Advocate.
 
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 
Shedding new light: Faulty fixtures repaired at Darien train station
By  Mark Ginocchio
Staff Writer

December 18, 2006

DARIEN - Light  has been restored at the Darien train station, and the state 
Department of  Transportation is nearly finished replacing platform fixtures 
that have  malfunctioned for years.

The platform is fully lit and the state expects  to upgrade the last of the 
fixtures by February, DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick  said last week.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell told the DOT she was concerned for the  safety of commuters 
at the Darien station. "Per her direction, the DOT has made  it a priority to 
make the necessary short-term and long-term repairs to get the  station fully 
lit," Nursick said.

Rell criticized the DOT in June after  she learned of long-standing 
complaints by Darien officials about the  malfunctioning lights.

The design of the 126 fixtures was wrong from the  start, causing the lights 
to malfunction during bad weather because water built  up inside and shorted 
the circuits, DOT officials said.

After the  governor's directive, the DOT issued an emergency declaration to 
repair the  lights. Since work began in August, all electrical lines and 
junction boxes have  been replaced, as have 44 of the fixtures, mostly on the 
platform on the New  York-bound side.

The company that supplied the lighting fixtures is  replacing them at no cost 
to the state, Nursick said. The rest of the work is  estimated to cost about 
$400,000 he said.

No complaints have been  registered so far about the new lighting fixtures, 
Darien First Selectwoman  Evonne Klein said.

"Once the issue was identified, it was resolved  expeditiously," Klein said.

The town's lingering concern is that the new  fixtures are from the same 
company that provided the faulty ones, Klein  said.

With the problems at the Darien station nearly resolved, members of  the 
Connecticut Rail Commuter Council said they now will check with the state  about 
maintenance at other train stations.

Soon after Rell's directive,  the commuter council started its own "Fix My 
Station" campaign, urging rail  riders to submit photos of repairs needed at 
stations.

The commuter  council received photos from more than a dozen stations showing 
graffiti,  cracked pavement, exposed wiring and other problems, Chairman Jim 
Cameron  said.

"We want to go back and look at all the pictures to see if there's  been any 
progress," Cameron said.


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1465
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org