StationStops reader ‘Abby’ writes of her recent horror story on Metro-North:

Yesterday evening (August 11th) my elderly mother and I were traveling from Grand Central Terminal to Redding, CT. We boarded the 6:42pm train out of GCT, planning to transfer at South Norwalk for the Danbury line.

The Assistant Conductor punched our tickets. He was a heavyset man with gray hair, probably between 45 and 55 years old.

When the train pulled in to South Norwalk, my mother and I got off the train and started walking down the platform. The Assistant Conductor of our train was standing at one of the open train-doors, and I asked him if the Danbury train would be coming on this track, or if we’d have to cross-over. He said, “No, get back on the train, you have to go to East Norwalk.”

“Really?” I said. (I’m from Redding, and I know I’ve always transferred at SoNo or Stamford.)

“Yes, yes, COME ON, you have to get back on the train.”

So my mother and I got back on the train.  In my experience commuting for 5 years, the conductor’s word trumps everything else - so I thought there must be track-work or some odd reason why we had to transfer at East Norwalk.

As the train pulled out of the station, again I asked the Assistant-Conductor, “Are you *sure* it’s East Norwalk?”

He pulled out his schedule, looked at it, and said, “Oh - no. It’s South Norwalk.”  Then he pulled out a white receipt and wrote on it, gave it to us, and said, “Get off at East Norwalk, cross over, take the next train back, and transfer at South Norwalk.”

“But will that get us back to SoNo in time to catch our 7:53 connecting train to Redding?” I asked.

“I dunno,” he shrugged.

“The next train to Redding after that isn’t for hours!” I said. (9:13pm, to be exact, now that I can look it up.)

“I don’t know if you can make your connection,” he said.
(Another passenger at this point said, “Even if I gave you a ride from East Norwalk, you wouldn’t make that train.”)
“That’s all I can do,” the Assistant Conductor said. “Sorry.”

So, to summarize: this Assistant Conductor not only put us back on the train in error, but he was prepared to send me with my elderly mother “to take the next train,” WITHOUT WARNING US that it would have meant sitting in a series of waiting-rooms for HOURS, getting back to SoNo on what would have been the next train (8:36pm) to sit and wait another 45 minutes for the Danbury train. Which would get us to Redding near 10pm and home after 10pm. (My mother, a senior citizen, does not drive at night.)

Let me say that it’s a damn good thing I knew that the next train to Redding wasn’t for hours, because otherwise I would have obediently followed this Assistant Conductor’s instructions to cross over and wait on the other platform. That certainly would have gotten us out of his hair, which was clearly all he cared about. However, knowing that it would be a LONG wait, I objected, and my mother asked if we could get a taxi at East Norwalk. “No,” said the Assistant Conductor.

When we got off at East Norwalk, a helpful fellow passenger directed us to a nearby bar where we were able to call for a taxicab to take us back to Redding. Allow me to reiterate that the Assistant Conductor was of absolutely no help. The conductor, who witnessed most of this, was also no help. I could not believe the sheer incompetence of the Assistant Conductor. A turnstile at Grand Central Terminal could have performed his job more admirably.

Our tickets to Redding were now worthless, unless we wanted to sit and wait for two hours as it got later and darker. I could not do that to my mother.

The taxicab fare from the East Norwalk train station to my home in Redding was $55.00 (including tip). I’ve written a complaint to Metro-North to be reimbursed for the $55, as I believe the incident is entirely the fault of their employee. Furthermore, I truly don’t understand how a clear-headed conductor could even make this sort of an error. I have traveled on trains all over Europe and have never encountered this extent of incompetence.

Ed. - I feel really bad for what happened, and the Asst. Conductor should not have been so assertive with his response, but you really shouldn’t double check your itinerary with the conductor as you are leaving the train - this leaves no time for him to review the schedule and give you a thoughtful response. The Metro-North schedule is quite an extensive beast.