Metro North has been ordered by the Federal Government to operate trains with two qualified train crew members controlling locomotive cab or passenger car control compartments in areas where the speed limit changes by 20 miles per hour or more.  The emergency order from the Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration comes less than a week after a fatal derailment in New York.  At the time of the derailment, the requirement was only one train crew member.

Metro North must also make signal system improvements to warn engineers of speed limit changes.  The federal government is also ordering Metro North to submit an action plan to the FRA within the month that ensures the safety of its operations for passengers and employees.

Former Connecticut Rail Commuter Council member Jim Cameron says he is organizing the Commuter Action Group because the same problems have been ignored over and over again.  He says the new Connecticut Rail Commuter Council has a lot of members from upstate, who are not commuters, and are not showing same level of interest in the concerns of commuters.