Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard received a hands-on demonstration of how her subcommittee’s appropriations are spent as she drove one of Metro’s new Ansaldo Breda 2550 rail cars. Roybal-Allard, who sits on the House’s Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, traveled to Metro’s maintenance yard north of Downtown to see where the Breda rail cars would be maintained.

The cars will be used on the Edward R. Roybal Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension, named after the late congressman, who is Congresswoman Roybal-Allard’s father. The six-mile extension of the Metro Gold Line will run through the congresswoman’s district, linking Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles with Little Tokyo and the Arts District, Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles by late 2009. After instruction from Suresh Shrimavle, Rail Fleet Services manager, and Davide Puglisi, Rail Transportation manager, Roybal-Allard drove one of the new Ansaldo Breda rail cars on the maintenance yard track.

“A lot of federal money goes into these projects, and I like to see first hand how the federal money is being used,” said Roybal-Allard, who was instrumental in securing the federal share of funding to complete the $898 million project. Roybal-Allard, who also serves on the House’s Homeland Security Subcommittee, discussed with Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Faulk how the Transit Services Bureau’s (TSB’s) K-9 units search for suspicious items.

Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Hayden lead Xxzylo, a two-year-old Vizsla, through a demonstration of such a search. Accompanying Roybal-Allard were CEO Roger Snoble; Mike Cannell, Metro Rail general manager; Dennis Mori, Eastside Extension project manager and TSB Commander Dan Finkelstein.

“One of the things I’ve been very pleased about with MTA and the Eastside Extension is that not only is it being built on time and within the budget but the fact that MTA has outreached to the community when it has needed to in order to include them in the project,” Roybal-Allard said. “But so far most of the issues that were raised with regards to the Eastside have been successfully addressed.”

Pictured in the middle photo: Roybal-Allard meets a member of the Transit Services Bureau’s K-9 unit. Pictured in the photo on the far right: Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard prepares to drive the new Ansaldo Breda 2550 rail car at the Metro Gold Line Mid-Way maintenance yard near Downtown.
 

-- ### --