Gov. Dannel Malloy on Tuesday took a symbolic trip on Metro-North Railroad’s New Canaan branch line Tuesday by way of announcing that new M-8 cars are operating between Stamford and the Next Station to Heaven.
Gov. Dannel Malloy addresses the press at Springdale station on Jan. 13, as he announced that new M-8 cars are starting on Metro-North Railroad’s New Canaan branch line. Credit: Michael Dinan
During a press conference on the platform at Springdale station, Malloy said the first two of 25 single-car trains dedicated to the line are in place. Transportation officials estimate that travel on the New Canaan branch will increase 44 percent over the next 15 years, he said.
“We are currently running 2,500 [commuters] Monday through Friday and we see that growing,” said Malloy, joined on the platform by State Rep. Tom O’Dea (R-125th), State Rep. William Tong (D-147th), Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker and other officials, many of whom had valid reasons to be there.
O’Dea said he was “ecstatic” about the announcement and joined the governor in “calling for upgrades to the New Canaan line.”
Tong, who represents parts of Darien and Stamford, called the New Canaan line “part of the lifeline for Connecticut’s economy to “maybe the most economically important economic center in the world, New York City.”
Asked how much the cars cost, Malloy said the single-riders are about $2 million.
Malloy said he plans to present the state with a full transportation vision, including a 5-year “ramp up” and 30-year “build-out” that touches on not just rail lines but buses, bikeways, paths, highways, bridges and the widening of Interstate 95.
Whether and how the state pays for it will be an important and separate discussion, the governor said, though it’s critical that the vision is sketched first.
“I think we need to have an honest, adult conversation about what a first-in-class transportation system looks like,” Malloy said.
Malloy and the cadre of state officials and nonlocal media took the train to New Canaan, where First Selectman Rob Mallozzi joined the governor for a quick photo, and then they all went back to Springdale.
Original Article
Gov. Dannel Malloy said this week that the Metro-North Railroad’s New Canaan branch line will see “improved and more reliable service.”
In a press release posted on the governor’s website, Malloy said he’ll announce the upgrades Tuesday afternoon on the Springdale station platform in Stamford and then ride through the New Canaan. There, our town’s highest elected official—First Selectman Rob Mallozzi—will join him.
In a statement issued to local media, Mallozzi said: it’s “gratifying to see the commitment to our rail system finally be put in place.”
“I applaud the Governor’s recognition of the importance to Fairfield County of this vital asset and also applaud my fellow First Selectmen, Mayors and local legislators for keeping this vital issue at the forefront of our annual priority discussions with the State,” Mallozzi said. “This is the start of a long-term commitment that will preserve New Canaan’s ability to attract the kind of residents that add value to our community and support the entire state with the taxes they contribute.”
Importantly, Department of Transportation Commissioner James P. Redeker is expected to be with Malloy.
Mallozzi since last summer has called for the DOT to install a ticket kiosk and canopy at the Talmadge Hill rail platform, a nearly two-decades-old effort that up until now, at least, had drawn no acknowledgement or response from the state.
It isn’t clear whether those improvements are part of Malloy’s plan.