Metro-North, New York’s commuter railroad, has for years shuttled its cargo in unglamorous but reliable fashion between New York City and its northern suburbs. That was until a power failure halted service for more than a week, creating scores of angry passengers and ugly headlines. The company has struggled to explain the cause of the problem but recently unveiled the answer: It blamed someone else.
The railroad wasted no time in pinning the blame for last week’s collapse on the local electric utility, Con Edison, which supplies power to the troubled New Haven line, which has been limping along at about half its normal operations for more than a week.
Metro-North’s signage, public-address announcements and website all attribute the mishap to “Con Ed power problems.” It’s convenient to blame another company, but that doesn’t do anything to solve the problem, and most riders will hold Metro-North responsible regardless.
Consumers are savvy enough to realize that it’s never just the fault of the suppler, especially for something as complex and integrated as running a railroad. Metro-North will remain under pressure until full service is restored.
This must come as a bitter surprise to Con Edison. One day you’re the strategic partner, but once something goes wrong you’re just a supplier, to be thrown under the bus. It’s surely not the kind of treatment that will make them rush to fix the problem. It could also undermine the long-term relationship between the two companies at a time when New York needs its infrastructure to work well.
Instead of blaming someone else, Metro-North ought to be saying more about how the problem happened and what it’s doing to prevent a recurrence. So far, it has said almost nothing.
Blaming someone is like having that big piece of candy. You really enjoy it for a while but once the sugar high wears off, you fall back where you started.