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State Oversight Office Gives NNEPRA High Marks

Details: Published on Saturday, 17 September 2016 14:29; Written by TRN Webmaster

The Government Oversight Committee held a session this week to hear the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability's position regarding an investigation into NNEPRA's management of its finances and operational supervision of the Downeaster passenger rail service.

State Senator Stan Gerzofsky of Brunswick, an outgoing member of the Government Oversight Committee, had forcefully pursued the investigation. The following report is from All Aboard Brunswick which has been closely following the process.

OPEGA found NNEPRA to be a well-run organization with lots of oversight, tasked with the challenge of coordinating operations with Amtrak, Pam Am Railways, the MBTA, Maine DOT, individual station owners, and responsible to the Legislature, Maine DOT, the Federal Rail Authority (FRA), and the Federal Transportation Authority (FTA). Basically, the report said, “Nothing to see here, folks. Move along now.”

The report’s three recommendations were:

1. Better communication between NNEPRA and the Legislature, with the Transportation Committee scheduling NNEPRA to present its annual reports at public meetings. In the past, presentations at public meetings have typically been initiated by NNEPRA.

2. As part of the process of establishing passenger rail policy, planning and implementation, the Legislature, MDOT and NNEPRA should rely on objective cost-benefit research and analysis, and provide timely and appropriate forums for public input throughout a project’s duration.

3. Reevaluation of the role of Maine Passenger Rail Advisory Council (PRAC), specifically with regard to improving communication and promoting public input.

There will be a public hearing on the report at the GOC’s next meeting at 9:30 AM on Thursday, October 6. The chair, Sen. Roger Katz, stressed that the public hearing would be on the report, only, and not on any other issues related to rail service in Maine or NNEPRA.

This was in part because the OPEGA Director had mentioned that OPEGA had reviewed many unsolicited comments from the public, some of which had complained about the cost of passenger rail and the feasibility of passenger rail, neither of which were in the scope of OPEGA’s review which was limited to: “Assessment of use of resources; procurement and contracting; oversight and governance; long and short range planning; and achievement of statutory purpose.” In addition, issues were raised in the discussion by the committee on September 15 that included several topics outside the scope of the review established by the GOC.

In response to a concern that “train experts” had not been invited to participate in the report, the OPEGA Director stated that several of the unsolicited comments reviewed by OPEGA staff were from “train experts.” A member of the committee asked that all the unsolicited comments be made available to the committee. The OPEGA Director explained that they were confidential working documents. The committee agreed by consensus that she should contact each of the authors to seek permission to release the documents. It was pointed out that anyone could share their views at the October 6 public hearing, as long as they were within the scope of the report.

At the end of the meeting, NNEPRA Executive Director Patricia Quinn addressed a couple of issues raised in the committee’s discussion, including the necessity for ongoing tie replacements to avoid having all of them fail at once and the fact that service disruption during track repairs is exacerbated by having only one track, which is shared with freight trains. She also addressed the fact that a contract to shuttle the Amtrak train crew between the Portland layover facility and the Amtrak train that is parked in Brunswick every afternoon is between Amtrak and a local taxi company, and that NNEPRA staff played no role in the negotiations. She thanked OPEGA for their work and said that the report accurately explains NNEPRA’s role. When Sen. Katz asked her to attend the public hearing, she said that she would attend, of course, and that, in the meantime, committee members could contact her at any time on her cell phone.

The committee’s vote to accept the report will occur after the October 6 public hearing.

You can read the full report here.

August, 2016 NNEPRA Board Meeting

Details: Parent Category: NNEPRA; Published on Monday, 22 August 2016 20:51; Written by TRN Webmaster

Preliminary Report FY2016: The numbers showed continued recovery of the Downeaster service from the botched tie-job of FY 2015 and part of FY2016.

Ridership: Projected ridership was down by 2% and revenue by 3%. However, this June's ridership numbers showed an increase of 23,109 to a total of 42,605 over the paltry 19,496 of the previous June.

On Time Performance: I'll pick last year's worst OTP month - May of 2015 was 0% This May it was 81% - not the 90ish NNEPRA is aiming for, but a spectacular return to normalcy.

Overall Customer Satisfaction - June, 2016: The Downeaster continued to eclipse Amtrak service elsewhere with a 92% rating as opposed to Amtrak's 86%.

FY2017 Begins: July, the first month of of the new fiscal year, set a new ridership record of 51,402 passengers and that's an increase of 14,053 riders over July of FY2016.

Fall Tie Replacement: There remains considerable track work to be done this Fall. From October 1st to November 21st, some 15,000 ties will be replaced between Portland and Wells. This will necessitate no Downeaster service between Brunswick and Wells. Special bus service will bring southbound passengers from Brunswick, Freeport, Portland and Saco down to Wells. Similar service will transport northbound passengers after they reach Wells on the Downeaster. Another painful reminder that maintaining the tracks keeps railroad service up to expectations.

State Finds No Major Issues After NNEPRA Review

Details: Published on Thursday, 21 July 2016 22:42; Written by TRN Webmaster

Maine’s Government Oversight Committee (GOC) met today in Augusta and heard Beth Ashcroft, director of the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA), present a 7-page report detailing her agency's preliminary investigation of NNEPRA. This investigation was initiated at the request of Sen. Stan Gerzofsky (D. Brunswick), who, among other things, opposed NNEPRA’s choice for the site of the soon-to-be-completed layover facility in Brunswick and who accused that Authority of mismanagement and a lack of transparency.

After extensive research into the operations and governance of the rail authority, Ms. Ashcroft stated that OPEGA found no significant issues with NNEPRA. More specifically, the report stated that:

OPEGA does not find that mismanagement or lack of transparency are “areas of high risk at this time.”

OPEGA has not “identified any potential concerns or high risk conditions that lead us to definitely recommend further review” of any NNEPRA functions which are “key to providing the most effective and efficient passenger rail service possible.”

OPEGA noted that NNEPRA “appears to have strong practices in some areas, like procurement and contracting, which are already reviewed to some degree through . . . federal reviews and independent financial audits.” OPEGA’s conclusion that “there may be limited value to spending OPEGA resources on more detailed review of NNEPRA at this time” is a strong endorsement of NNEPRA’s practices and activities, validating the value of that agency to the State of Maine and the rest of northern New England.

OPEGA's 7-page report will be followed by a more detailed Information Brief in September, after which the GOC will consider whether any follow up is needed. A copy of the report is available at http://legislature.maine.gov/uploads/originals/final-nnepra-project-direction-recommendation-statement-.pdf.

June, 2016 NNEPRA Board Meeting

Details: Parent Category: NNEPRA; Published on Tuesday, 28 June 2016 15:58; Written by TRN Webmaster

The NNEPRA Board Meeting was held on Monday, June 27th.

Ridership: Executive Director Patricia Quinn reported on the latest performance numbers. The May, 2106 ridership was 38,754 as compared to 22,722 in May of 2015 (Need we mention that May, 2015 was a disastrous 30 days due to a tie-replacement project gone awry). However, the actuals missed the projected ridership by a considerable degree.

Revenue: May, 2016 revenue came in at $663, 377 as compared to $393,556 in May of 2015. Still, this past month's revenue fell 11% below target.

OTP: On Time Performance was 81% as opposed to 0% (!) in May of 2015.

CSI: The overall Customer Satisfaction Index for the Downeaster was 91 - Amtrak checked in at 88.

Brunswick Layover Facility: Special Projects Manager Jim Russell reported, "It's on schedule and on budget with 75% of the track work completed."

Royal Junction Siding: Funding has been acquired. This siding will ultimately allow all Downeaster trains to start and end in Brunswick.

NNEPRA May Board Meeting

Details: Parent Category: NNEPRA; Published on Tuesday, 24 May 2016 15:09; Written by TRN Webmaster

The NNEPRA board met Monday, May 23rd, to review the latest Downeaster performance numbers.

Ridership: Now that the roadbed is in tip-top shape, ridership shows continued growth since October of last year, save for January, 2016. A similar trend for revenue was reported.

On Time Performance: 89%

Overall Customer Satisfaction: March Downeaster: 91, Amtrak: 85

Brunswick Layover Facility: Special Projects Manager Jim Russell reported on the continued progress at the BLF, "We are on schedule for a September opening." The NNEPRA Board was then treated to a video tour of the facility when Trainriders/Northeast board members were escorted around the site.

Thank you, Jim. You answered our many questions with expertise and patience.