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New Rail Service Connects Central Connecticut With New Haven, Springfield

Jesus Garzon
/
Connecticut Public Radio

New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield are now connected by rail service. The inaugural trains left Friday morning from Springfield and New Haven, meeting in Hartford for a ceremony to mark the opening of the revived line. 

Speaking on the platform at New Haven, Governor Dannel Malloy said the new service is the beginning of big economic changes for Connecticut.

“It will change how we think about ourselves," he told the assembled crowd. "Where we get talent for any job in any one of those cities. And as we do other modernization then we’ll connect other cities more brilliantly than we have in the past. This is about change, and this is about building an economy that will be competitive in the future.”

Mayor of New Haven Toni Harp rode the train, and described the service as a shot in the arm for her city.

“It means that workers who now come into New Haven from the central part of the state will not have to drive," she told Connecticut Public Radio. "So it will reduce emissions, hopefully it will reduce the need for a lot of parking we have, and it will just create an ease for people coming into town.”

Credit Jesus Garzon
/
Jesus Garzon
Governor Dannel Malloy speaks to the press before riding the inaugural train from New Haven to Hartford

During the ceremony in Hartford, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal offered a little historical perspective on how the project came about in the first place.

"We were the very fortunate beneficiaries of bad leadership in Florida," he explained.

Blumenthal was referring to something that happened almost a decade ago, when congress passed the American Recovery and Investment Act. Among the provisions in the stimulus package was $8 billion for high speed rail projects.

Many Republican governors refused to take the stimulus money on principal, calling it a 'bailout". Florida Governor Charlie Crist had big plans for a high speed rail line, bucked the trend and accepted the funds. But his successor, Rick Scott killed the project, and the funds were then redirected to the Hartford Line proposal.

"They actually decided to forgo money for their rail system out of a misguided, ideological blinder that Connecticut fortunately avoided," said Blumenthal.

The Hartford Line will be officially open for business Monday, after offering free rides to all of its stops this weekend.

There will be 16 trains running on weekdays that connect both states. They'll run from as early as 4:35 in the morning in New Haven and 5:23 from Springfield.

Ray Hardman is Connecticut Public’s Arts and Culture Reporter. He is the host of CPTV’s Emmy-nominated original series Where Art Thou? Listeners to Connecticut Public Radio may know Ray as the local voice of Morning Edition, and later of All Things Considered.
Harriet Jones is Managing Editor for Connecticut Public Radio, overseeing the coverage of daily stories from our busy newsroom.

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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.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Connecticut Public’s journalism is made possible, in part by funding from Jeffrey Hoffman and Robert Jaeger.