Officials with the state Department of Transportation have announced that schedule changes are being put into place on the Danbury Branch rail line so that crews with Metro-North can address ongoing problems with malfunctioning crossing signals.
DOT officials said buses will be used on the line for off peak and weekend trains while peak trains will continue to operate. An interim service plan for the line will be announced on Wednesday and will take effect on March 1 that officials said will help to mitigate delays on the line.
The delays have resulted from the “stop and warn” procedure that’s been put into place along the line. The procedure calls for conductors to stop a train prior to each at grade crossing until the warning signal activates.
The crossing signals have been malfunctioning on the line since a new $70 million centralized control system was put into service on the Danbury Branch in November.
The malfunction often results in the warning signals being activated when there is no train approaching the at grade crossing. The problem, transportation officials have said, results from the new equipment installed on the line not properly communicating with older equipment at the crossings.