(The Connecticut Post published the following story by Rob Varnon on its website on March 24.)
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The state needs to take action now to head off insufficiencies in the state’s rail operations as record numbers of people take to the rails, according to a report released Monday by a commuter watchdog group.
The Connecticut Metro North-Shore Line East Rail Commuter Council published its annual report and stated that maintenance facilities, station parking, bus and shuttle service and the state’s rail fleet are insufficient to meet the demand confronting Connecticut’s two main rail lines.
Metro-North Railroad operates the New Haven Line and its feeder branches, and Amtrak operates the Shore Line East Railroad. Both lines run along the coast of Connecticut. The council found that ridership on the two rail lines reached near all-time highs in 2002. The New Haven Line carried more than 33.1 million passengers in 2002 — up .5 percent from 2001. Shoreline East carried 345,206 riders during the year. On-time performance for both rail lines was better than 94 percent.
With ridership increasing, the council called on the Legislature to immediately order new rail cars to meet existing and anticipated growth, expand rail maintenance facilities and station parking, and increase the number of buses and shuttles connecting rail stations with homes and jobs.
The council also asked that the state improve its efforts to keep trains and stations clean to attract and keep more riders. “We can delay no longer,” the report stated. “If we are to rely on passenger rail to reduce highway congestion and air pollution, we must offer adequate trains and schedules to encourage commuters to leave their cars.”
The government-appointed council has been in existence for 17 years. It has not received any state funding since 1995, but the council is asking that funding be given to support the publication of its annual report and other expenses. The individual council members now cover those costs.
The Department of Transportation, which is responsible for ordering and maintaining the equipment for both railroads, said it can’t order new cars until it completes a study on the type of train configurations that will best serve the needs of the system. There are two possible types of train configurations under consideration. One set would use two electric engines and eight double-deck coaches; the other would be made up of eight self-propelled electric cars.
It is unclear at this time if the double-deck cars can fit into Grand Central Terminal, but DOT’s Public Transportation Bureau Chief Harry Harris said he should have that answer this summer. The DOT is expanding its maintenance facility in New Haven to accommodate more cars and agrees that the state will need a fleet of about 500 cars to meet commuter demand by 2030.
The current fleet totals 341 cars. More than 200 of the cars are more than 25 years old. The council contends that the state can’t delay because it takes four years from the date of order to get a new rail car. There is also concern that Gov. John G. Rowland’s proposal to raise train fares for interstate travel by 15 percent and overcrowded trains will encourage people to drive their cars.