The $121 million for the New Haven-Springfield high-speed rail program was promised by the federal government in 2010, but Connecticut didn’t know when it would see the money until Monday.
“A lot of us having been waiting for this day,” said Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker at a press conference in Meriden, a city that will benefit from the project.
Local and state leaders, along with Connecticut’s congressional delegation, have high hopes for the high-speed rail project. The federal funding will be matched by $141.9 million in state funding, allowing the state to move forward with an ambitious project that officials say will enhance rail service and improve railroad stations. Officials say the project will result in less cars travelling on state highways, and they hope the project creates jobs.
Because of the federal grant, the state is expecting enhanced intercity rail service to start in 2016. This will mean 17 round-trips between New Haven and Springfield, Mass., each day.
The first phase of construction will include the installation of underground communication cables and is set to begin this month.
“Let’s get people moving,” said Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
To date, the federal government has given Connecticut $191 million for the project. More money will be needed to do the project right and to maintain the transportation system, said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, explaining that the total cost of the project is expected to be $647 million.
“I’m never confident about anything in Washington these days,” Blumenthal said when asked if the congressional delegation could secure more federal funding for the project.
However, he did say he is was optimistic that the project will forward with the necessary funding because of its overall benefits.
Local and state officials and Connecticut’s congressional delegation were in Meriden Monday to announce that the state is getting $121 million in federal funding for the New Haven-Springfield rail program. (Amanda Falcone)
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5 Responses to State Gets Funding To Move Forward With High-Speed Rail Project
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Has anyone ever figured out where the State’s estimates are going to come from? Where is the demand to get to and from Hartford at that frequency? As long as Hartford continues to tax itself to death, there will be a gradually decreasing demand to travel here.
Also, will anyone have the smarts to pull the plug on this if it fails in 10 years? Sadly, I doubt it.
I thought Malloy said rail was not the future of transportation. If this project was in the pipeline, wouldn’t it make sense to re-establish rail from waterbury to hartford instead of the busway. It appears CTDOT hasn’t spent much time planning and looking at the future plans of public transit and how to create a efficient system in the state.
According to the news this morning, this rail would reduce the commute time between points by 10 minutes. $260 million for 10 people to save 10 minutes – now THAT’S cost effective and typical of our government at work
Without a link to Bradley Field this project is nothing more than a state boondoggle to provide union jobs….
The story fails to mention the major I-91 traffic impact the Springfield casino represents in the same timetable, nor that this New Haven-Springfield initiative in Connecticut is matched by already-in-progress upgrade programs in Massachusetts and Vermont.
Think college kids back and forth to New Haven, Hartford, Holyoke, Northampton, Amherst and Burlington, think Vermont skiing, think Montreal getaway weekends … Think of those Vermonters coming south to Connecticut beaches.
Vague, feel-good phrases like “economic improvement” conceal how passenger travel (while it absolutely spurs development along the corridor) is but one piece of the progress being made — keeping trucks off the highways by the vast increase in rail freight capacity is “huge” for reasons of safety, convenience and air-quality preservation, not to mention the reduction of highway maintenance costs for taxpayers.
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/letters/hc-letters-to-the-editor-cdb,0,1099648,results.formprofile?Query=9226HC