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Senator Blumenthal Weighs In On The Future Of Rail In Connecticut

In this file photo, an Amtrak train arrives at Hartford Union Station on October 5, 2018.
Frankie Graziano
/
Connecticut Public
In this file photo, an Amtrak train arrives at Hartford Union Station on October 5, 2018.

Ridership on Metro North and the Hartford Line has plummeted as many residents suddenly stopped commuting by public transit during the pandemic.

But as the federal government eyes infrastructure as a recovery priority, will Connecticut benefit?

This hour, we talk to Senator Richard Blumenthal about what this could mean for our region’s rail system.

And some proponents in our region see this as an opportunity to bring high speed rail to Connecticut. Is that a realistic possibility for our state?

GUESTS:

  • Senator Richard Blumenthal - Connecticut U.S. Senator; member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
  • Curt Johnson - President of Save the Sound
  • Elizabeth Deakin - Professor Emerita of City and Regional Planning and Urban Design, University of California, Berkeley and co-editor of High-Speed Rail and Sustainability: Decision-making and the Political Economy of Investment

Cat Pastor contributed to this show.

Lucy leads Connecticut Public's strategies to deeply connect and build collaborations with community-focused organizations across the state.
Carmen Baskauf was a producer for Connecticut Public Radio's news-talk show Where We Live, hosted by Lucy Nalpathanchil from 2017-2021. She has also contributed to The Colin McEnroe Show.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

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