Commuters, politicians and bureaucrats all said they want commuter train service between New Haven and Springfield, Mass. But will the train ever leave the station?
While Amtrak and Metro-North trains rolled by outside the windows of Union Station, a few dozen people gathered Saturday afternoon on the second floor of the historic train hub to celebrate National Train Day. The event marked the 140th anniversary of the date in 1869 when a “golden spike” joined the two transcontinental railroads, the Central Pacific and Union Pacific. They gathered Saturday to discuss efforts to improve train service for Connecticut residents trying to get to destinations around the state and region.
People’s top concerns included the proposed 64-mile commuter link between New Haven and Springfield. Right now there’s just spotty Amtrak service; there hasn’t been regular commuter service since the mid-20th century.
At a separate event a day earlier than the New Haven gathering, U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd came to Hartford Friday to talk about the possibility of the New Haven to Hartford to Springfield rail line. He said the New Haven station is the 12th busiest Amtrak facility in the country. He said the goal is to have eight stops along that line and he’s optimistic the high-speed rail line will become a reality under Amtrak’s new leadership. Dodd also said he was more hopeful about obtaining federal funds for the project than he has been in the past.
Amtrak has owned and controlled the tracks between New Haven and Springfield since 1971. Amtrak officials are expected to meet May 14 with Connecticut and federal officials to discuss ways the commuter line could use the tracks without interrupting Amtrak service.
The agenda for the Saturday event in New Haven — organized by Richard Stowe of Rail*Trains*Ecology*Cycling and Jason Stockmann of Elm City Cycling (pictured above) — included a keynote address by Norman Garrick of UConn’s Center for Transportation and Urban Planning and two panels with many of the key decision-makers in the city and state on transportation issues.
Into the sport-coated, all-male scene strode New Haven State Rep. Pat Dillon (who represents Westville), whom Stowe had invited to stop by. She said that when she was elected to the General Assembly two decades ago, she was “stunned” to discover she couldn’t take the train to work. “If I could buy a ticket from New Haven to Springfield,” she said, “I could hop off in Hartford, but there was nothing that was dedicated.” She said she teamed up with another legislator to push for rail service to Hartford, but their efforts didn’t bear fruit back then. “It seemed futile then to try to do anything,” she said. A few years ago the legislature and Gov. M. Jodi Rell agreed that getting commuter rail service from New Haven to Springfield was a high priority. She said she was excited to see that progress. “You have to have a lot of patience in this work, but I think with teamwork we can really do something. A lot of my constituents can’t get to work. Any of these job organizations that organize a van doesn’t work that well if you’re going to a small business, so it’s critical just for people to earn a living.”
But many challenges remain, not the least of which is that a significant part of the distance now covered by Amtrak between New Haven and Springfield (including to Hartford) is no longer double-tracked. That must be remedied before a commuter train can begin providing service, officials reported Saturday.
After the panel presentations, audience member and Fair Haven Alderwoman Erin Sturgis-Pascale (pictured) said her job in sustainable transportation at Yale University entails helping employees figure out how to get to work in ways other than driving their cars. She said hundreds of workers stand ready to take the train, if and when service begins.
Mike Piscitelli (pictured), New Haven’s director of transportation, gave his signature optimistic, can-do take on the situation: “We see a much better discussion these days, all about the engineering challenges — figuring out how to double-track the line, improve the timetable and do the platforms so we can run a credible service. We see the debate really moving to the next level, and it’s very exciting.”
Back in 2006, the Connecticut Department of Transportation estimated a price tag of $300 million in capital costs and several million more in operating costs to get the project going. Officials have publicly been saying the train’s coming.
Since then the severe recession has put a chill — if not a freeze — on the project. So officials couldn’t say when the line might become a reality. The good news: The Obama administration is supportive of mass transit, which holds out the possibility of money in the federal stimulus package.
But Albert Martin (pictured), deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Transportation, was far less sanguine when asked about funding or a timetable for the commuter line, even just the New Haven to Hartford segment. “The engineering changes that are required do require funding. We have to identify the funding that will be dedicated to meet those challenges. There has been some funding identified for the implementation of the service. We have found out as we’ve gotten into it that more funding is needed, and under some very difficult financial circumstances” — e.g., the state’s multi-billion dollar budget deficit. Asked by a reporter for a dollar figure or a proposed completion date, he responded, “It is entirely premature right now to try to identify such.”
Reached by phone after the event, Richard Stowe said, “The biggest bang for the buck is to get service from New Haven to Hartford. Second is service from New Haven to Bradley airport; and third is service running to Northampton [north of Springfield], up to the Five College towns area.” That includes the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and several smaller schools. It could be many a graduating class down the road before that happens.
Christine Stuart contributed reporting to this story.
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In the western suburbs of Chicago they built the trains right down the middle of the right of way on the Interstate. That way all the cars stuck in gridlocked car traffic get to watch the commuter trains whiz by at full speed and wonder why they didn't take the train.
It solves the problem of the environmental impact study, because the Interstate corridor is already a denuded lifeless wasteland, and mostly paved already. Let's run a train line right up the middle of I-91 from New Haven to Quebec. Winter traffic on I-91 would drop dramatically if there was a way to get from NYC to the Vermont resorts without driving.
I don't understand why we can build brand new roads, such as a parallel 95 Q bridge, to the tune of hundreds of millions, but we can't build a new rail line using the same corridor.