Construction of a second track for the expanded rail line from New Haven, Conn., to Springfield, Mass., began this week, a project that aims to boost north-south rail transportation from six daily round-trip trains to 17 per day south of Hartford and 12 per day north of Hartford.
According to John Bernick, assistant rail administrator for the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT), some $435 million is available to the project, of which $191 million is federally derived, while the remainder is state funded.
The increased number of trains along this route, part of a large-scale network of rail line expansions between Springfield and Boston and north to Vermont and Montreal, is intended not only to boost economic development in central Connecticut.
“It puts Hartford right in the middle of this great rail infrastructure,” Bernick said. “It’s huge. When you discuss it with businesses, their eyes really light up. It all starts right now with this critical track bed.”
The rail line in Connecticut is currently split between single and double track. Funding would add double track and upgrade stations in Berlin, Hartford, Meriden and Wallingford. The Connecticut portion of the project from North Haven to Windsor is expected to be completed by 2017. Commuters will be bused along the route for the next year.
