Bond Commission To Vote On Commuter Rail Money

The state’s Bond Commission is expected to approve $260 million dollars to help pay for a commuter rail line from New Haven to Springfield, Massachusetts. WNPR’s Nancy Cohen reports.

The bond money would pay for improving six train stations from New Haven to Windsor Locks, rehabilitate small bridges and culverts, improve more than three dozen train crossings and upgrade safety signals. It would also add more than 24 miles of double tracks to accommodate both Amtrak and freight trains that already use the corridor while making room for the new commuter trains. The bond money would match $220 million in federal funding that Connecticut applied for earlier this month.

Kevin Nursick of the state Department of Transportation says the project would reduce the number of cars clogging the highway north of New Haven.

“This rail line would be, in our belief, a very effective option of reducing congestion on the I-91 corridor, competing with and having better travel times than using a car on 1-91 corridor but also connecting the entire Northeast region with high speed passenger rail."

The commuter line is designed to create faster train service all the way to Vermont and the Canadian border. It would also improve public transportation to Bradley International Airport.

For WNPR, I’m Nancy Cohen.