Hartford Line CtDOT New Haven-Springfield - NHHS (Before Launch of Service)

IIRC, the design for the NHHS platform at Hartford is on the North end, by the elevator, and is definitely not full length. There was a portion of the platform that was wooden planks; that was the area to be replaced by high-level. When I left Hartford at the end of May, construction on the platform had not started; I doubt it's open yet and I'm not even sure Amtrak will use them.

Hartfords new platform appears to be nearly complete. Springfield and the new stations in Berlin, Meriden and Wallingford will also have high platforms. Eventually Windsor and Windsor Locks will get them as well.

Berlin station building status - brick samples were taken to try to match new brick to the old as closely as possible. Attic windows on east side were boarded over as was the void where the brick face fell out earlier this year. Various groups of contractors have been examining the building inside and out over the past few months. Local word is that the major work will begin "in the spring of 2016."
Outside work continues on new high-level platforms and the two stair/elevator towers. The roadbed where track 1 (southbound) was located is being built up to the level of the track 2 side to prepare for track construction. On the Hartford line following the reduction to a single track, the single track was the remnant of track 1 (southbound) for the most part, with one of the exceptions currently being through the Berlin station, where the track 2 alignment is used in the station area to serve the platform following the replacement of the bridge over Farmington Ave. just south of the station. The new bridge was at a higher elevation than its predecessor, and the run-out from the bridge elevation passed through the station area and required a new (low-level) platform at the station.

New Haven Register

New North Haven train station presents ‘unique opportunity’

First Selectman Michael Freda and other town officials are working with the state on a new train station that would be located on State Street on the site of a former factory.

“We have spent 3.5 years on this project and have worked very closely with the department of transportation,” Freda said. “We have identified that State Street and Devine Street on the site of the old Humphrey Chemical is where the train station would be most effective.”

The station is planned for a site just east of the intersection of State and Devine streets, where Route 40 crosses the Hartford rail line.

“It would be most effective there, and the DOT concurs, because it’s right off the Route 40 connector, and we have not only North Haven benefiting from it, but Hamden and also Cheshire,” Freda said. “The advantage for North Haven is this Humphrey Chemical building for decades and decades has been abandoned, so we get a chance to have the site cleaned up and put a nice robust train station depot there.”

From the New Haven Register article linked above:

The station will also include a building similar to but smaller than Union Station in New Haven, Freda said.

“There will be a building there — it won’t be the size of what you see in New Haven, but there will be a building there,” he said.

Does that mean something more substantial than the standard new CDOT station: 2 covered high-level platforms connected by an enclosed bridge, a la Westbrook, Fairfield Metro, etc.?

Wallingford station in the news: MyRecordJounal.com

Brief, fair-use SNIPS:

State officials tour new Wallingford train station construction site
...
But delays in the Wallingford project come from small issues arising during the double-tracking of the rail line. For instance, work near the plaza housing Holiday Cinemas Stadium 14 and other businesses was slowed to repair a culvert.

Construction at the corner of Parker and North Cherry streets has been ongoing for several months and two steel towers stand in the center of the lot. The towers will hold the elevator shaft, a staircase and a pedestrian bridge that crosses the elevated platform at the rear of the station. A 221-space paid parking lot is in the works.
...
A new $24 million station was needed in Wallingford because the town’s existing station at Quinnipiac Street and Hall Avenue could not accommodate the elevated platforms and overhead pedestrian bridge. The double tracking would also interfere with the two intersections, state Transportation Commissioner James Redeker told Wyman.
...
A new $24 million station was needed in Wallingford because the town’s existing station at Quinnipiac Street and Hall Avenue could not accommodate the elevated platforms and overhead pedestrian bridge. The double tracking would also interfere with the two intersections, state Transportation Commissioner James Redeker told Wyman.
...

A little confused about the Q'pac and Hall double-tracking; is the area by the station to remain single track? I visited that area last year, and really, it's just a matter of reinstalling what's been paved over right by the former station and current low-level platform (which won't be used anymore). To me it's more of a platform length issue.

[quote="Ridgefielder"]From the [i]New Haven Register[/i] article linked above:
[quote]The station will also include a building similar to but smaller than Union Station in New Haven, Freda said.

“There will be a building there — it won’t be the size of what you see in New Haven, but there will be a building there,” he said.[/quote]
Does that mean something more substantial than the standard new CDOT station: 2 covered high-level platforms connected by an enclosed bridge, a la Westbrook, Fairfield Metro, etc.?[/quote]

Having a building probably depends on political pressure and/or how much the town will kick in. Maybe having a "building" just means the structures that house the elevator towers and stairways.

CVRA7 wrote:Having a building probably depends on political pressure and/or how much the town will kick in. Maybe having a "building" just means the structures that house the elevator towers and stairways.

Freda goes out of his way to specifically say a "building" and reference New Haven Union Station. If it's just an overpass, why do that?

Hartford Courant

Brief, fair-use SNIPS:

Shore Line East Will Send Trains To Hartford Line, Get New Fleet
...
The state plans to redeploy Shore Line East's worn fleet of diesel locomotives and passenger cars in 2018 to the Hartford Line. They'll be used as part of a high-frequency schedule of shuttle trips on the route between New Haven and Springfield, where there is no catenary to power electric trains.
...
Meanwhile, the state may refurbish some or all of the existing Shore Line East diesel fleet before assigning it to Hartford. It's also preparing to order replacements in the next few years, Jackson said.

I'll be posting various snips in the related threads.

Waterbury - Hartford - Manchester (and Willimantic to New London) would be a nice commuter line. The line from Manchester east would have to be rebuilt and have the Greenway trail next to it. At first, Waterbury to Hartford could have an updated RDC running just to see how it would be (commuter wise). Who knows, maybe with freight trains running at night and then ECRM could run an excursion train to Bolton Notch.

Amtrak Boss Pledges Hartford Line Will Be Done On Time, from the Hartford Courant

Amtrak Boss Pledges Hartford Line Will Be Done On Time

There will be no more cost overruns or construction delays on the Hartford Line commuter rail project, the president of Amtrak said at a Senate hearing.

Amtrak is keeping close watch on the $574-million construction job and is confident it will be ready for trains to start running in January of 2018, Joseph Boardman said at the hearing Tuesday.

Connecticut had initially hoped to start running commuter trains between New Haven, Hartford and Springfield by next winter, but Amtrak — which oversees construction — declared two months ago that it would take 13 months longer and $135 million more.

Under questioning by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Boardman acknowledged that completing projects on time and budget "hasn't always been standard practice" at the railroad. But he said a switch in senior management has changed that.
...
State Transportation Commissioner James Redeker told The Courant on Wednesday that construction is now running slightly ahead of the revised schedule, and that Amtrak's new project management team is keeping the DOT well informed about progress.
...
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy last spring sharply criticized Amtrak for mismanaging the project. The state ultimately agreed to issue more than $135 million in bonds to cover the overruns and related costs, and Malloy has said Amtrak is now doing a far better job of overseeing the work.

Of course, only time will tell!

and by that time Mr.Boardman will have retired, so who your gone get.......

Local update on the progress of Meriden's station construction.

http://www.myrecordjournal.com/meriden/ ... riden.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

From the Hartford Courant: Plans Pitched For Thompsonville Train Station

Plans Pitched For Thompsonville Train Station

ENFIELD — Members of the town council will consider two preliminary design concepts for a future train station in Thompsonville and are expected to endorse one at a council meeting next week.

Monday night, representatives from the state Department of Transportation and Parsons Brinckerhoff, the principal consulting firm tasked to complete the design, presented two plans to the town council and about 50 residents at Edgar Parkman Elementary School. The station would be situated along the Connecticut River.
....

The link also includes a rendering of the proposed station and potential site plans.

The renderings seem to make the station look two story with three story towers for the elevators. Excuse my ignorance, but why is that necessary? I would have expected one story waiting hall with the bridge tall enough only to clear highest freight ever on the line. I thought the project was short on money and over budget.