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Connecticut Rail Network


Lowerdeck

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Here's an interesting concept, already brought up somewhat in other topics. If you could create and control the logistics of a Connecticut passenger rail system, what would it be? Improve existing routes, create new ones.

Here's my idea...

Metro North - New Haven Line

- Twin and electrify the Danbury Branch, plus extend to New Milford

- Make serious upgrades to the Waterbury Branch, making that faster and more useful to passengers in The Valley. Perhaps extend to Torrington

The I-91 Line

Create a line between New Haven and somewhere in the Springfield area. If not Springfield itself, perhaps a suburb north of the city.

Here would be a rough idea of how it would look...

- New Haven, connection with Metro North

- Hamden

- North Haven

- Wallingford

- Meriden

- Berlin

- New Britain

- Newington

- Elmwood

- Hartford

- Windsor

- Bradley Airport (have a connector shuttle to the terminal)

- Windsor Locks

- Enfield

- Longmeadow

- Springfield, connection to T

- Chicopee

- Holyoke

- Northampton

The East-West Line

A whole new line, for the most part, to be built mostly as a rail bypass for I-84. Then, from Hartford it turns southeastward towards the shoreline and eastward towards the suburbs that way.

- Brewster, connection to Metro North

- Danbury, connection to Metro North

- Newtown

- Southbury

- Middlebury

- Waterbury, connection to Metro North

- Waterbury East (somewhere near Exit 25A)

- Southington/Plantsville

- Bristol

- Plainville

- New Britain, merges with I-91 Line to Hartford

(express)

- Hartford, merges with I-91 Line to New Britain

- East Hartford

- Burnside

- Buckland

- Manchester

- Vernon

- Tolland

- Storrs/UConn

- Mansfield

- Willimantic

- North Franklin

- Yantic

- Norwich - connection to I-395 Line, Foxwoods shuttle

- Mohegan Sun

- Uncasville

- New London

South Loop

- Waterbury, connects with mainline and Metro North

- Prospect

- Cheshire

- Meriden, connects with I-91 Line

- Middletown

- Portland

- Colchester

- Yantic, connects with mainline

The I-395 Line

Passenger service on the Norwich to Worcester railroad, P&W. Extension of the T perhaps?

- Worcester, connection to T

- Auburn

- Oxford

- Webster/Dudley

- Grosvenordale

- Putnam

- Dayville

- Danielson

- Moosup

- Plainfield

- Jewitt City

- Lisbon

- Norwich, connection to East-West Line, Foxwoods Shuttle

- Norwich Hospital site (whatever happens to that)

- Gales Ferry

- Groton

Boston to New London Connection

Extend the T southwestward to New London

- Boston

(express)

- Providence

- T.F. Green Airport

(express)

- Westerly, connection to Foxwoods Shuttle

- Stonington

- Mystic

- Groton

- New London

Foxwoods Shuttle

And you know the Mashantuckets would probably pay for this too, if the rest of the system was built.

- Norwich, connection to East-West and I-395

- Foxwoods

- North Stonington

- Westerly, connection to Boston-New London Line

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[

Lowerdeck:

You wrote...

South Loop

- Waterbury, connects with mainline and Metro North

- Prospect

- Cheshire

- Meriden, connects with I-91 Line

- Middletown

- Portland

- Colchester

- Yantic, connects with mainline

Great idea for the airline line, But I'd do a stop in Ledyard and Windham (a stop at the Eastern Connecticut RR Museum.). The rail line from Waterbury to Middletown would be the the old line of the old "WM&CR route". I think Colorado Railcar makes an updated version of the RDC, so we could create commuters lines.

The East-West Line

A whole new line, for the most part, to be built mostly as a rail bypass for I-84. Then, from Hartford it turns southeastward towards the shoreline and eastward towards the suburbs that way.

- Brewster, connection to Metro North

- Danbury, connection to Metro North

- Newtown

- Southbury

- Middlebury

- Waterbury, connection to Metro North

- Waterbury East (somewhere near Exit 25A)

- Southington/Plantsville

- Bristol

- Plainville

- New Britain, merges with I-91 Line to Hartford

(express)

- Hartford, merges with I-91 Line to New Britain

- East Hartford

- Burnside

- Buckland

- Manchester

- Vernon

- Tolland

- Storrs/UConn

- Mansfield

- Willimantic

- North Franklin

- Yantic

- Norwich - connection to I-395 Line, Foxwoods shuttle

- Mohegan Sun

- Uncasville

- New London

Another nice line, but I'd have a split at Machester and take a line down the old 'midland' route, with stops at Bolton, Columbia and Andover. Again the updated RDC made by Colorado Railcar could be used.

b]Foxwoods Shuttle

And you know the Mashantuckets would probably pay for this too, if the rest of the system was built.

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  • 6 months later...

New Proposal...

EDIT: This topic is pretty much something that I made up. Hopefully someone important takes notice and takes the cause up for the greater good of the state and its citizens. And if not, at least it provides an interesting discussion between us here.

Nothing like this is actually proposed ... unfortunately.

ctrail2.JPG

Italics = possible expansion ideas, not shown)

Blue Line

- Bridgeport

- Trumbull

- Monroe

- Sandy Hook (Silver)

- Southbury

- Woodbury

- Waterbury West

- Waterbury (Pink, Brown)

- Plantsville (Pink)

- Southington

- Plainville

- New Britain

- *somewhere around West Farms*

- *somewhere in West Hartford*

- Hartford (Green, Brown, Yellow)

- East Hartford (Green, Brown)

- Manchester Center

- Bolton

- Andover

- Willimantic

- Chapllin

- Hampton

- Brooklyn

- Danielson (Purple)

- Providence express

Blue Line West Branch

-Southeast (MNR Harlem)

- Brewster (MNR Harlem)

- Mill Plain

- Danbury (MNR)

- Hawleyville

- Sandy Hook

Blue Line UConn Branch

- Willimantic

- Storrs/UConn

Silver Line

- Danbury (MNR, Blue)

- Sandy Hook (Blue)

- Monroe - CT 111

- Oxford - Lake Zoar

- Seymour Shores

- Derby/Shelton (MNR)

- East Derby

- Route 121

- Yale Bowl

- New Haven

(current Shoreline East)

- Old Saybrook

- Lyme

- Niantic

- Waterford

- New London (Green)

- Groton

- Mystic

- Stonington

- Westerly (Green)

Part II coming up...

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Yellow Line

- New Haven (MNR)

- Hamden

- North Haven

- Wallingford

- Meriden

- Berlin

- Newington

- *somewhere in West Hartford*

- Hartford (Blue, Green, Brown)

- Windsor

- Windsor Locks

- Enfield

- Longmeadow

- Springfield

- Chicopee

- Holyoke

- Northampton

Yellow Bradley Branch

- East Granby

- Bradley Airport

- Route 75

- Windsor Locks

Green Bradley Express A

- Bradley Airport

- Hartford

- Marlborough

- Norwich

Green Line

- Torrington

- New Hartford

- Canton

- Avon

- *somewhere West Hartford*

- Hartford (Yellow, Blue, Brown)

- East Hartford (Blue, Brown)

- *somewhere near EH/Glast line* (or near P&W?)

- Glastonbury

- Marlborough

- Colchester

- Bozrah

- Norwich

- Mohegan Sun - Norwich Hospital site

- Uncasville - Montville

- New London

Purple Line

- Danielson* (Blue)

- Dayville

- Putnam

- The Grosvenordales

- Webster-Dudley

- Oxford

- Auburn

- Worcester (T)

* Perhaps we can get Rhode Island on this, have them run a line to the 395 corridor. From there, RIPTA can do locals to Providence and CT can do express from Danielson or Putnam to PVD. Where the blue, purple, and PVD Express meet would be determined on which way Rhode Island would extend the line... near 44, 6, or 101.

Brown Line

- Waterbury (Blue, MNR)

- Oakville - Watertown

- Thomaston

- Terryville

- Bristol

- Plainville (Blue)

- New Britain (Blue)

- Farmington

- *somewhere in West Hartford*

- Hartford (Yellow, Blue, Green)

- East Hartford (Blue, Green)

- Rentschler Field (gamedays)

- *somewhere near EH/Manch border*

- Buckland - Evergreen Walk

- Vernon

- Tolland

- West Willington

- Stafford Springs

Pink Line

- Waterbury (MNR, Blue, Brown)

- Waterbury East

- Plantsville (Blue)

- Meriden (Yellow)

- Middletown

- Higganaum

- Haddam/E. Haddam

- Chester

- Deep River

- Essex

- Old Saybrook (Silver)

Is this really proposed or what you'd like to happen? Either way, I'd like it to happen...
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That is a lot of train lines!! Lets start with something Hartford-centric!!

One thing you should ammend on that map of the year 2080- You would need something connecting the north (Worcester, Boston, etc) to the casinos. You have a glaring gap along 395.

On a similar note, I was reading this feasability study today about restoring commuter service between Worcester and Providence.

http://www.ci.woonsocket.ri.us/Woon%20Comm...al%20Report.pdf

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The reason that Amtrak has such "poor service" is because of a federal edict demanding that our national real company become self sufficient financially, and trip its financial lover routs.

So it is this reason that there are so few trains and few stops.

This means that the system you plan would likely be a big loser as well. No offense to your ideas as I would love to see some of them come true, but they would cost CT huge sums of money.

For my tax dollar I think connecting Hartford to Springfield should be the first goal. extending this limited system north to Northampton Mass, and South towards New Haven would be phase 3.

Phase 2 would be putting an East-West line through Hartford connecting all of the major suburbs.

Phase 4 would be an East West line thru Springfield.

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For my tax dollar I think connecting Hartford to Springfield should be the first goal. extending this limited system north to Northampton Mass, and South towards New Haven would be phase 3.

Phase 2 would be putting an East-West line through Hartford connecting all of the major suburbs.

Phase 4 would be an East West line thru Springfield.

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That is a lot of train lines!! Lets start with something Hartford-centric!!

One thing you should ammend on that map of the year 2080- You would need something connecting the north (Worcester, Boston, etc) to the casinos. You have a glaring gap along 395.

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I think an improved rail system in CT would encourage "smart" growth. This could help to kill sprawl and preserve the CT that we all love. I think it would also make the state very attractive for companies that are looking to relocate.

We already have a lot of infrastructure but CDOT doesn't manage the system very well. Can someone explain to me why we don't have an express train that runs from NYC to the casinos during the weekend???? During the summer months the Long Island Railroad runs the Cannonball which is an express train from NYC directly to the Hamptons on the Eastern tip of Long Island. Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun are a year round destination! We already have the infrastructure(metro-north and shore line east). All they need to do is run a shuttle bus from New London to the casino and it would be nice if they had a car rental agency at the train station too.

I also hope to see express trains from Waterbury/Naugatuck to Bridgeport and hopefully Hartford to New Haven one day. Just one early morning train that skips most less populated stops for those that need to travel to New York.

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I grew up out in the Hamptons and I will tell you that the cannonball that you are so fond of is really not as great as you might think. The primary means of getting to and from the city is Hampton Jitney, and Sunrise Bus Lines. The scheduel is much more regular, much more direct, takes the same amount of time and does not cost that much more. Its also much more confortable and they give you chips and a beverage. The LIRR does have advantages on certain days like St Pattys day getting out to Montauk for the parade.

Another thing to note is that the LIRR has one of the highest riderships in the country. There are 7 million people living on long island between Montauk and Brooklyn. 7,000,000 along a linear path making it very easy to move the people. LIRR has double decker trains to maximize space even. If coastal CT ever reached the level of demand that Long Island has I would be amazed. Also the Casinos are allready served by rail. New Yorkers take the LIRR to greenport, meet the sunrise bus to Otient ferry, take high speed ferry to NL and the bus trip to the casinos. all subsidized by the casinos. There is also a high speed ferry from the middle of Long Island that serves the casinos.

As far as a system based on Hartford and Springfield, I think it would be most effective if we used existing highway right aways much like the BART system does in the SF Bay Area. If there is a more convenient existing rail right away of course that should be used. But the highways should be used specifically on the East/West route through Hartford. I will also add that spending the extra money to put the tracks under ground thru downtown Hartford and possibly downtown West Hartford would we well worth it in the long run.

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