CTDOT: Hartford Line

I read in the Amtrak Springfield line thread that ridership is exceeding CtDOT's expectations. Wonder if it's doing better than SLE? I also wonder what the farebox recovery is...

To me, it's the fact that you can now get to work or leave work at reasonable times (arriving before 8, etc.), and are not stranded if you leave work early. Also, the connectivity is huge. If only CtDOT hadn't ripped up that perfectly good ROW for the #BuswayBoondoggle! (man, I haven't used that hashtag in YEARS!) You could potentially have "around the horn" service from Bridgeport/Devon up to Waterbury, across to Hartford, and down to New Haven.

Well, it's definately a mature and beneficial decision on the part of CDOT and MassDot to allow Amtrak to add a third Amfleet 1 car to it's 475 run. Let's hope that they continue to do that to other shuttles.

I'm very happy to hear that ridership on both Ctrail and Amtrak trains is doing great along the SPG Line! I'm not overly surprised about that as there are many large towns along the route that have a lot of companies as well as universities. Plus Connecticut's state capitol is served and it seems like many people commute to and from there along the SPG Line.

SLE's ridership is probably lagging, outside of commuting west during the am rush hour and east during the pm rush. For starters, once you clear New Haven, there aren't many large companies within easy reach of an SLE station for miles. The only other large town on SLE besides New Haven is New London. Tourism would be the closest dominant target market to those riding SLE as the line passes many close to many beaches, serves small towns, etc.

Jeff Smith wrote:I read in the Amtrak Springfield line thread that ridership is exceeding CtDOT's expectations. Wonder if it's doing better than SLE? I also wonder what the farebox recovery is...

SLE ridership is hovering around 1,400 right now. It has been going down since the bus substitutions began. I'm hoping this is the lowest it gets, and it starts to rise again. I believe HL ridership is 1,900, what SLE is normally.

It's tough to make a direct comparison to SLE because of the complicated way the HL operates with Amtrak operating half the service. They make no distinction between local trips and Amtrak intercity trips that continue beyond New Haven in the numbers while SLE has to operate as a standalone local service.

Bustituting half the schedule for SLE is a deterrent. Went up to OSB a few weeks ago, was fortunate enough to get a courtesy from an Amtrak crew with my work ID - otherwise I was going to be stuck on a bus...unfortunately the next actual SLE train was a bit late for my plans.

Construction schedule ends 11/12 (Veterans Day) - Amtrak trains resume pre-September schedule. Would assume its the same for CTrail or similar.

lordsigma12345 wrote:It's tough to make a direct comparison to SLE because of the complicated way the HL operates with Amtrak operating half the service. They make no distinction between local trips and Amtrak intercity trips that continue beyond New Haven in the numbers while SLE has to operate as a standalone local service.

I'm fairly sure the ridership counts reflect both Amtrak and HL. Although 1,900 trips on the CTrail trains alone would be great, that sounds a little high right now.

How difficult is it to differentiate between a CTrail ticket for SPG-NHV and Amtrak for say, SPG-STM? Even if someone gets off a shuttle and buys a ticket to say...Fairfield Metro, it's still a CTrail trip. The 1900 riders probably do encompass both Herzog and Amtrak operated trains, but comparing them isn't as convoluted as this is being made out to be. Knock off the ticketed through Amtrak beyond NHV off the ridership if they do for some insane reason NOT differentiate and just count CTRail ticket sales.

You wouldn't need to differentiate fully between CTrail and Amtrak just take out the Amtrak trips beyond New Haven. Add CTrail tickets to Amtrak ticketed trips where both ends terminate within Springfield and New Haven. That would give you the total local trips that you can attribute to the commuter program. That way you cover Windsor and Windsor Locks (which don't have a CTrail TVM and thus HAVE to buy an Amtrak eticket if boarding one of their trains) and you also cover local riders who simply choose to buy from the Amtrak window at New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield to avoid using the TVMs (which I commonly do and I've seen others as well.)

I sent a message to Hartford Line facebook regarding the upcoming schedule change asking if this was purely a revert to the pre-September schedule or if there were any enhancements. They answered that it will be released over the next day or so and offered the following highlights:

- The connection to the 6:48 AM Metro North will once again be possible.
- One of the CTrail round trips that presently terminates in Hartford will be extended to Springfield.

Other known information is that all the Amtrak operated trains are returning to the pre-September departure times per Amtrak's reservation system.

That’s great to hear about a Ctrail train being extended from Hartford to Springfield. Did they say whether it will be on weekdays or weekends as well as the train number?

Sometime this winter, I might take a spin up to Windsor, Ct.

They did not state which one or when.

Per a report from a friend, it appears that unlike Shore Line East trains, Hartford Line trains will *not* wait for a late connecting Metro-North train. #4414 (625pm NB) left as MNRR #1544 pulled in. Connecting passengers had a 30 minute wait (60 minutes if they were going north of Hartford). Seems like a great way to have a lot of angry customers.

Yes, Ctrail shouldn't be quick to depart when a Metro North train is running a little late. Maybe if MNR is running 15 minutes late at the most, Ctrail can do that especially if there isn't a northbound Amtrak shuttle train like an hour following when the Ctrail train is supposed to depart. Trains run late and there is a lot of trackwork going on on the New Haven Line which may cause MNR trains to run late but fortunately, they pad their schedules well.

If an Amtrak NE Regional train is substantially late, the shuttles don't always wait for the NE regionals. Two years ago, I was at New Haven Station and I watched Amtrak Shuttle Train # 494 depart before #94 arrived because 94 was running very late. Amtrak Train # 94 has had a poor on time record for a while, even with the padding.

I think what CDOT needs to do is if they think Ctrail trains won't wait for late running MNR, they just need to pick a Metro North train that arrives into New Haven before the one originally on the timetable. This would work good during rush hour. On weekends, the wait time between many MNR and Ctrail trains isn't that bad but some of them-a little too long, maybe 30 minutes.

BREAKING: The new Hartford Line schedule is out!
http://www.hartfordline.com/pdf/2018_no ... rinted.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So 4404 (formerly 4454) is extended to Springfield, arriving at 9:47 AM. I'm extremely happy about this, because it opens new commuting opportunities for Springfield. The return train will be 4405 (formerly 4455) departing Springfield at 10:40 AM and arriving in NH at 12:12 PM. On the weekends, the extended train is 6402 (formerly 6452) which departs NH at 9:25 AM and arrives at 10:58 AM. Coming back, it is 6403, departing at 11:30 and arriving in NH at 1:01 PM. Also, they made the average Amtrak running time 83 minutes rather than 81, and made the CTrail running times 92 minutes, 3 minutes less than the current time of 95.

Minor changes/things that irritate me:
1. Train 6455 now runs at 2:40 instead of 1:40.
2. Train 4400 is at 4:35 now instead of 4:20.
3. 4414 runs 8 minutes earlier and connects to 1542.
4. 451 connects with the 6:48 to GCT again.
5. 4401 arrives in NH at 7:57, but doesn't connect to 1539. MAKE IT 5 MINUTES EARLIER!!

I'm glad they changed the running times. This weekend when I went to Hartford on the train, our train going up departed NH 5 minutes late and arrived in HFD 8 minutes late. Our train going back left 1 minute late (because of me bursting out of the elevator at the last second and screaming at the conductor to wait) and arrived in New Haven 3 minutes early.