(The following article by Mark Ginocchio was posted on the Stamford Advocate website on November 2.)
STAMFORD, Conn. — Instead of using Metro-North Railroad only for access to New York, a growing number of riders have started using the New Haven Line to commute inside Connecticut, state Department of Transportation statistics show.
The DOT reported yesterday an 8 percent increase in ridership for intrastate travel on the New Haven Line in September, compared with the same period last year.
Year to date, intrastate travel has increased about 6 percent from last year, state officials said.
“We are extremely pleased to see Connecticut residents discovering the value of our state’s public transit systems and using them in a consistent manner,” DOT Commissioner Stephen Korta said in a statement.
Ridership increases were attributed to higher automobile fuel prices and improved services and facilities like refurbished rail cars, DOT officials said.
Total ridership was up 5 percent in September on the New Haven Line — about 800 additional passengers a day — compared with last year. There was a 4 percent increase in passengers traveling from the Stamford and Greenwich stations into New York and a 6 percent increase in ridership between other New Haven Line stations and New York.
Ridership on the Danbury branch was up 7 percent.
“These are all significant increases,” said DOT spokesman Chris Cooper, “especially given the fact that it’s not just one part of our service that is growing.”
To meet the increased demand, the state has been working to get additional seats on the line, Cooper said.
DOT has already added 1,200 seats from the used Virginia Railway Express rail cars purchased last year and gradually put into service. The state expects to add about 800 more seats once it has finished refurbishing the remaining Virginia Railway cars, he added.
Additional seats will come from the state’s Critical Systems Replacement plan, Cooper said. The state has rehabbed 84 of the fleet’s 210 oldest rail cars. Some are more than 30 years old, 10 years past their life expectancy. As older rail cars are refurbished, they break down less often and more can be kept in service, Cooper said.
“We’re working on the capacity issue, and while there are some standees, we’ve been doing pretty good,” he said. “There are seats available.”
Joseph McGee, vice president of public policy for the Business Council of Fairfield County and an intrastate commuter between Fairfield and Stamford, said he started noticing more crowds as gas prices continued to climb.
The new rail commuters have managed to stick around despite a lack of parking at most stations.
“People will find ways to make it work, whether it’s by getting a ride to the station or parking on a side street,” McGee said. “It’s not always optimal, but (gas) prices have become an issue. What I’m noticing is new people are getting on the train to save money, and are sticking around because they find it works.”