by Ridgefielder
Sounds like I should quit my job and just get a contract from the State of CT to "study" transportation... would probably pay better, and all I'd need to do is be on rr.net all day
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Two of the options could be implemented within the next few years, if funding were available, because they don't require an environmental impact assessment. The first calls for a $20 million siding in Beacon Falls, which would allow trains to pass each other. A second option is to add signalization at a cost of $128 million.Out of $297m in recommendations, the siding and yard are peanuts compared to some spending. The signalling will be mandated anyway. I know the yard in Waterbury has been discussed before; right now, everything goes back to Bridgeport or New Haven, right? It seems like operationally this might actually save some money.
Perhaps the most efficient solution would be to build a storage yard and maintenance facility in Waterbury, according to the consultant's report. For $3 million, a rail yard would allow trains to stay in the city overnight, eliminating the need for them to backtrack when they travel from Bridgeport to Waterbury.
Nicasto, chief of the Chambers of Commerce of Central Connecticut, late last month joined state transportation officials in a tour of the rail tracks from Berlin to Waterbury. He's hoping to build momentum for at least rebuilding the Waterbury to Plainville stretch soon, a move that could extend Metro-North's Waterbury branch line schedule into the center of the state.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy earlier this year committed $1 million to study whether it makes sense to rehabilitate the entire Berlin-to-Waterbury section of tracks, bridges, crossings and other infrastructure. The line is now used only for occasional freight trains; bringing it up to standards for new commuter service would cost about $125 million to $130 million and could be done in 18 to 30 months, Nicastro said.
But if the job is divided into stages, the first one — from Waterbury to the Plainville railyard — would cost just $50 million or so, Nicastro said. That would offer thousands of central Connecticut people a new way to get to their jobs in the Naugatuck Valley and Fairfield County, he said, and also would give easy access to New York City for the region's biggest employer, ESPN.
The late Peter Lynch, a widely respected railroad manager and consultant, concluded two years ago that Connecticut could restore passenger service on the route for a relatively low cost. But advocates were pitching the plan as an alternative to the $569 million New Britain busway, and encountered stiff resistance at the time from busway supporters in the DOT and elsewhere.