Bonding for High Speed Rail New Haven, CT to Springfield, MA
Tanner929 Member # 3720
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Same studies been going on for years, The letters in The Courant got it right. It is silly to have high speed express trains from Springfield-Hartford-New Haven I do not think people who live in Hartford work in New Haven and vice versa. And again if it is a commuter line then they do not need high speed but as in fairfield county many of the train stations built or set up in the 19th century have enough parking. If they build or expand this route The State should run it not Amtrak travelers going to Philly or Washington can transfer at New Haven or catch the trains from Vermont which have to either join the Regionals or transfer at New Haven.
DeeCT Member # 3241
posted
Tanner -
This is not a study (that has been done). It is a request to the State Bond Commision for funding the States share of the the project.
The High Speed is further down the road when they will connect with the Washington, New York to Boston route. Some of the work can be done at same time as the Commuter line. Essentially it is upgrading the current New Haven to Springfield route.
I myself would rather see it as part of Amtrak rather than State run.
Apparantly the two (2) letters that accompany the article are from people who have never endured the I91 or I84 rush hour nitemare.
Dee
Tanner929 Member # 3720
posted
Have to disagree, the Shoreline East is a well run operation and the state would be better able to see what towns could use train service not all businesses are located in New Haven and Hartford. During rush hour these trains need to run both north and south. If the 18 wheelers can stop rolling over traffic on 84 and 91 will ease traffic abit.
irishchieftain Member # 1473
posted
quote:the Shoreline East is a well run operation
It'd be a better-run operation once they actually use fully electric traction. Also, calling it such is a plus for Amtrak, who has operated it since its inception; the state does not operate its own trains, remember, and relies on the New York MTA to run the New Haven Line in addition to Amtrak's operations.
Tanner929 Member # 3720
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When I wrote "the state" I was refering to the MTA which Shore Line East is operated on they could add Mass. Transit for the Spingfield portion of the route
irishchieftain Member # 1473
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quote:the MTA which Shore Line East is operated on
That's west of New Haven, not east; SLE uses Metro-North crews from New Haven to Stamford, AFAIK. Between New Haven and New London, Amtrak runs the trains and it's Amtrak's railroad.
quote:they could add Mass. Transit for the Spingfield portion of the route
Who is "Mass. Transit"? If you mean the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, they don't run out as far as Springfield, and they don't run their own commuter trains either. Amtrak used to run the T's commuter trains (between 1983 and 2003), until Veolia came along and invented the "Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad" company. I wouldn't trust Veolia; back when they were called Connex, they were thrown out of the UK for poor performance, and just recently they got thrown out of Los Angeles' Metrolink operations, replaced by Amtrak (the prior operator).
This is a link to a article in the New Haven Independent. Looks like they will set this up like Short Line East this will also get it running sooner. The high speep portion is to show futuristic pictures of some politicians dream. Before that they should link the MTA with Penn Station in New York.
irishchieftain Member # 1473
posted
quote:Looks like they will set this up like Short Line East this will also get it running sooner
Don't know where you derived that from. It's a bi-state operation, and it looks like Amtrak will be the sole operator, providing all of the motive power, rolling stock and operating personnel. Looks more like the restoration of the Keystone Corridor in Pennsylvania (between Philadelphia and Harrisburg) than the commuter-oriented Shore Line East.
quote:The high speed portion is to show futuristic pictures of some politicians dream
Dunno about that. The Keystone Corridor is not particularly "futuristic" in and of itself.
quote:Before that they should link the MTA with Penn Station in New York
The MTA already goes there. However, it's the Long Island Rail Road.
Metro-North (if that's what you mean by "MTA", which encompasses a lot of rail operations) is never going to go to Penn Station; there's simply no room (compare a station with 21 tracks to a terminal with well over 60 tracks, i.e. Grand Central Terminal). Furthermore, neither Metro-North nor the Connecticut Department of Transportation bought any MUs that can operate at 25 Hertz AC frequency on overhead wires, the MU contact shoes cannot fold up, and the dual-mode P32AC-DMs are designed for operation with the former NY Central under-running third rail versus LIRR/PRR over-running third rail.
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