ClimateWire: A planned high-speed commuter rail service connecting New Haven and Hartford, Conn., and Springfield, Mass., could become one of the nation’s first completed rail projects, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday as he encouraged officials in Connecticut and Massachusetts to work together and with the federal government to move the project along.
“All of us have the same goal, the same desire, and that is to have high-speed, real high-speed rail service in the corridor, in the heart of New England,” said Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R). “If we can meet a timetable and be aggressive as we have planned, then I think we will be the first in the nation to accomplish that.”
Connecticut, which is submitting studies to federal officials for funding, anticipates that the train will be operating by 2014 or 2016. The federal government has already given $40 million to the state, which is being used to build a second set of tracks in certain areas. Connecticut transportation commissioner Joseph Marie said the state will apply for a second, more substantial round of funding. The state must also match 20 percent of the federal funding.
There once was Amtrak service that covered the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield network, but it ended 40 years ago. Efforts to revive the rail line have been hindered because of stretches with just a single track. The next step to the project, according to planners, would be linking western Massachusetts to Boston with its own high-speed rail. The Connecticut project could also be extended past Springfield.
The service would help the thousands of commuters between Massachusetts and Connecticut or those who drive to New Haven to catch trains to New York or Washington (Susan Haigh, AP/Boston Globe, April 27). – JP