Trouble for McGinnis

Blarney-loving Patrick B. McGinnis, who took over the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad 15 months ago with a barrage of promises of bigger profits, better trains and a new deal for commuters, last week was up to his ears in trouble. Items:

P: New Haven express, 20 minutes late out of New York and bound for Boston, roared into a sharp curve near Bridgeport at high speed and jumped the tracks, killing the engineer and injuring 24 people. Luckily, the conductor had just moved passengers out of the first five coaches, otherwise the toll might have been disastrous. Service on the New Haven's main line was snarled for five days while commuters rode to work by bus or detouring trains running up to an hour late. At week's end Massachusetts State Representative James L. O'Dea Jr. demanded a state investigation to find out if economy minded President McGinnis' 22% maintenance cut (from $44 million to $34 million) had anything to do with the wreck. In New Haven a McGinnis spokesman insisted that the cuts were on branch lines only, in no way affected the New Haven's heavily traveled main tracks.

P:A commuter revolt against McGinnis' decision to charge $5.50 a month for parking privileges at most New Haven suburban stations (TIME, July 4) had him on the run. At first, when commuters objected, President McGinnis snapped angrily that he was not running "the Ford Foundation," and added: "Because I want to charge a lousy five bucks, people act as though I've torn up the tracks." Last week he realized that such cracks were "a public-relations blunder." He postponed indefinitely the Norwalk parking fee, scheduled a series of meetings to mollify the New Haven's commuters.

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