Track construction begins on New Haven-Springfield rail line

[friendly_iconoclast]

http://www.wcvb.com/news/track-construction-begins-on-new-havenspringfield-rail-line/34517442

HARTFORD, Conn. —Construction of a second track for the expanded rail line from New Haven to Springfield, Massachusetts, began Monday, and commuters will be bused along the route for the next year.

The project will boost north-south rail transportation from six daily round-trip trains to 17 a day south of Hartford and 12 north of Hartford. About $435 million is available, said John Bernick, assistant rail administrator at the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Of that amount, $191 million is from Washington, D.C., and the remainder is state funding, he said.

The increased number of trains is intended not only to boost economic development in central Connecticut. It's also part of a broader web of rail line expansions between Springfield and Boston and north to Vermont and Montreal

"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."

...

[KamaAina]

1. Not only that, most of the new trains will be CTrail rather than Amtrak

Sort of like Metro-North and Shoreline East. Mucho less $$$.

[Vogon_Glory]

2. Sometimes These So-Called New Rail Projects Replace What Was Once There

Being something of a railroad history buff, I tend to look at claims of "new" rail construction with a jaundiced eye. The double-tracking of the New Haven--Springfield line is one such example. That line used to be double-tracked many years ago; the second track was lifted at a time when the privately-owned railroads improved their signaling systems and they were trying to exit the rail passenger service.

Nevertheless, I'm glad that SOMEBODY is defying right-wing dogma and is building infrastructure for the common good.

[friendly_iconoclast]

3. All Aboard Florida is doing the same thing between Miami and Cocoa

Florida East Coast railroad is upgrading track that had been single-tracked ca. 1975 or so