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Visions for the Commuter Rail


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that's why i would lower the cost by having fewer stations. you don't need a station in every town. in fact, you can go straight from willimantic to norwich and have those as the only 2 station. it'd be to benefit the willi people and the norwich people. same goes for willi to putnam, those would be the only stops.

i don't think hartford directly to boston would work, but to providence and/or worcester with changeovers to MBTA would be great.

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Isn't it a shame that these things already existed and auto companies bought out the rails and ripped them up?

I read in a history book that you could take a street car from Hartford over to Manchester, thru Vernon/Rockville, and up a little passed Stafford Springs and be within 2 miles walking distance to the Worcester street car system

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My proposals in addition to all that would be a Danbury to Willimantic line (green), a east-west arterial across the state. Interior Connecticut could benefit from one, as I-84 is a heavily travelled nightmare on it's own like I-95.

Stops would include:

- Danbury (meets with Metro North branch)

- Newtown / Sandy Hook

- Southbury

- Middlebury / Exit 16?

- Waterbury (meets with Metro North branch)

- Cheshire

- Southington, two stations

- Bristol, two stations

- Plainville

- New Britain, two stations

- West Hartford, two stations

- Hartford, 2-3 stations, one meeting with the I-91 line)

- East Hartford, two stations

- Manchester, two stations ... would to have liked one near Buckland but that would leave out downtown

- Vernon Center

- Rockville

- Storrs

- Willimantic

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John Destefano actually suggested a line from Waterbury to Hartford in the debate. But he didn't win, and I don't know if anyone else supports that.

Manchester and Bolton decided to pave their part of the rail line and turn into an infrequently used trail. But hopefully someday they could put rail back in there.

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I thought I would add my vision for commuter rail expansion in Connecticut.

First of all, mikel, to answer your question -- the Valley Line never extended to Union Station, only to the Hartford rail yard.

PHASE ONE:

Metro North Danbury Branch: electrify and extend to New Milford as proposed.

Metro North Waterbury Branch: electrify, construct high-level station platforms, and provide direct service to GCT!!!

Shore Line East: increase service to New London as proposed with new stations at Old Lyme and Niantic.

Springfield Line: dual track facility between New Haven and Springfield with stops in Fair Haven, North Haven, Wallingford, Meriden, Berlin, Elm Hill (where Route 174 crosses the tracks between eastern New Britain and southern Newington), Newington Junction, Elmwood, Parkville, Hartford Armory, Hartford Union Station, Wilson (at I-291), Windsor, Windsor Locks, and Enfield/Thompsonville.

Service proposal: hourly local trains between Hartford and New Haven between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. (perhaps provide 30 minute service during rush-hour). Local trains to Springfield every two hours (perhaps provide hourly service during rush hour). One AM express train from Springfield making stops in Hartford, Meriden, New Haven, Bridgeport, South Norwalk, and Stamford. One AM express train from Hartford to Stamford making the same stops above. Two PM express trains from Stamford making the same stops in reverse order.

Highland Branch of Springfield Line: single track facility between Bristol and New Britain with stops in Bristol, Forestville, Plainville, and New Britain (where Main Street crosses the track). East of the New Britain Station, New Haven-bound trains would utilize the south spur to the Berlin station (where Pan-Am runs irregularly today). Hartford-bound trains would utilize the abandoned spur to Newington Junction (proposed Busway path) with a station at East Street.

Service proposal: six AM inbound trains from Bristol making local stops to New Britian. From there, four offer express service to Hartford (one goes on express to Springfield) and two offer express service to Meriden and New Haven. Six PM outbound trains -- four from Hartford (one originating in Springfield) and two from New Haven. Express service to New Britain. Local service to Bristol.

Suffield Branch of the Springfield Line: single track facility between Windsor Locks and Bradley Airport with stations at the airport and Suffield (where the current spur crosses Suffield Street). At the airport, I propose constructing an elevated track from the existing spur over the rental car facilities to connect with the east end of the new check-in terminal.

Service proposal: hourly express shuttle service between Bradley Airport and Hartford. Continued express shuttle service to Meriden and New Haven every two hours. Suffield station would be served by two AM inbound shuttles (one to Hartford and one to New Haven) and two outbound PM shuttles (one from Hartford and one from New Haven). Express service to Springfield would be contingent on Massachusetts funding.

PHASE TWO after studies determine adequate demand exists):

Shore Line East: extend to Westerly (connect with extended MBTA) with new stations in Groton and Mystic.

Norwich Branch of Shore Line East: New London to Norwich with new stations at Quaker Hill (Waterford), Uncasville/Mohegan Sun, and Norwich.

East Highland Branch of Springfield Line: Hartford to Manchester with new stations at East Hartford, Burnside (where Long Hill Street crosses the tracks), and Buckland (I like the idea of a spur to downtown Manchester).

Highland Branch of Springfield Line: extend west to Waterbury with new stations at Pequabuck and Waterville; provide reverse commute service from Hartford and New Haven to New Britain, Bristol, and Waterbury. Maybe the Highland branches could be united in the future to offer service between Waterbury and Manchester via Hartford.

Places where I think commuter rail service is unfeasible or a long-way off in the horizon:

Manchester to Willimantic: (low-demand for heavy rail. I would provide bus transit service to a Buckland or South Manchester station).

Norwich to Worcester: (low-demand)

I know this is a rather long post. I offer it as food for thought...

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I disagree about commuter rail east of Manchester for two reasons:

First, the populations of Bolton, Andover, Coventry, Mansfield, and Windham are too low to support heavy commuter rail. I would be willing to bet that -- collectively -- only a few hundred people from those towns (including ECSU and UCONN) work in downtown Hartford and only a fraction of those people would elect to take a commuter train into the city.

Second, the rail alignment between Manchester and Willimantic (currently a hiking trail) is chock full of curves. Even if commuter rail was established, I doubt the trains would be able to go very fast. I certainly don't see them taking less time to reach Hartford than motorists driving along Route 6, I-384, and I-84 -- even during rush hour.

This is why I suggest boosting bus service in these towns. These buses could connect to a future rail hub in Buckland or downtown Manchester. Or, they could run express into Hartford themselves using the HOV lanes on I-84.

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I would build the train before the highway (out to Providence that is). The highway will contribute to the type of development the folks in Eastern CT are scared of--and the reason the highway hasn't come. A train in that direction would be the best mode of transportation available so it would offer a fabulous view of transit-oriented growth. It would also connect Hartford to Boston by rail, which right now is completely lacking; you have to go through New Haven, and UConn is trying to develop a pedestrian community. In fact, first and second year students can't get on-campus parking passes (many take up the offers of adjacent landowners to pay them to park). Rail transportation would be instrumental in getting UConn students into Hartford and Providence, especially since it would make it easier for them to take job opporunities in both cities. A train to Providence is an excellent idea.
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I'm a big supporter of transit. However, I believe the idea to establish commuter rail between Hartford, Willimantic, and Providence is economically impractical and unfeasible. First, you would need to blaze a new rail alignment across eastern Connecticut and western Rhode Island. The current rail network does not provide anywhere near a direct connection between Hartford and Providence. In fact, I don't believe a rail alignment exists anymore between Plainfield and Providence. How would you determine the path? How would you acquire the land? By eminent domain? You'd have people in dozens of towns across both states screaming bloody hell. Second, who would ride this train between eastern Connecticut and Hartford, or western Rhode Island and Providence, or between Hartford and Providence? This is a very rural area. At best (including students from UCONN and ECSU), you'd see a trickle of passengers -- certainly not enough today or in the foreseeable future to justify spending hundreds of millions of dollars in constructing and maintaining a line.

Finally, I'd be wary of comparing Fairfield and Milford to what might happen in eastern Connecticut. Fairfield and Milford are both very large towns with populations above 50,000. In fact, I believe Milford is an incorporated city. While both municipalities have Metro North service and some pedestrian-friendly downtown areas (Milford more so than Fairfield), both have extensive car-dominated suburban neighborhoods, commercial sprawl, and suffer from some of the most severe road congestion in Connecticut.

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Isn't it a shame that these things already existed and auto companies bought out the rails and ripped them up?

I read in a history book that you could take a street car from Hartford over to Manchester, thru Vernon/Rockville, and up a little passed Stafford Springs and be within 2 miles walking distance to the Worcester street car system

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So it seems like expanded rail serice in and around Hartford and Connecticut in general is something we can all agree upon. How can we and others start demanding this? Are there advocacy groups around? Besides contacting our state representatives (which we should all do), what can we do to help make this happen???

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Yes they did Jim S. I have read it in several books.

General Motors in specific bought out streetcar and rail lines across the country- I was not speaking specifically of any line in Connecticut.

They bought them out with "good intentions" and ripped them up and promoted automobiles. Runawayjim has it right too.

Okay, I heard that, too. Now I have to do some research -- if I am wrong I'll say that I learned something.

JimS- try to put all your thoughts in one post, not 10 in a row!! easier on the eyes!

Ok...I just reply at the time. I should jot down what I want and keep it to one reply! Sorry for the many posts!!

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I don't have a map to draw, but I guess I envisioned a spiked wheel approach. With a round circle route around the downtown Hartford area. There would then be extension lines coming off the circle extending through East Hartford and Manchester to Vernon to the east, down through Marlborough and to the casinos to the southeast, down to New Haven to the south, down to Waterbury and Danbury to the southwest, and out to Torrington to the northwest, and up to Springfield through Bradley to the north. The line from New Haven and Springfield could be one route cutting down the middle of the circle.

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I don't have a map to draw, but I guess I envisioned a spiked wheel approach. With a round circle route around the downtown Hartford area. There would then be extension lines coming off the circle extending through East Hartford and Manchester to Vernon to the east, down through Marlborough and to the casinos to the southeast, down to New Haven to the south, down to Waterbury and Danbury to the southwest, and out to Torrington to the northwest, and up to Springfield through Bradley to the north. The line from New Haven and Springfield could be one route cutting down the middle of the circle.
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2 comments... to make replying to multiple posts easier, jimsawhill, you can hit the quote button on each post you're replying to, and then hit "add reply" at the bottom. just keep in mind that you can't have more than 3 quotes per post.

someone mentioned a downtown loop in hartford. this would probably be best suited to a bus or street car line as opposed to commuter rail. but i do agree that a downtown loop in smaller cities, like hartford, is better than a single center point. the other bus lines can branch off that loop, and obviously the loop would hit the train station.

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