A team works best when its members work together. We all agree on that. New Canaan has a dedicated team of state legislators working together to advocate for this town. State Reps. Lucy Dathan and Tom O’Dea and State Sens. Will Haskell and Alex Kasser (formerly Bergstein) are working together advancing the town’s interests. Train service to New York is fundamental to the vibrancy and real estate values for New Canaan. We understand and are focused on that. Everyone agrees that a “passing siding” on the New Canaan branch line is a top priority for improving train services to and from our town.
We have been communicating with the current CT Department of Transportation Commissioner, Joe Giulietti, regarding the New Canaan branch line and the needed improvements and how we could accelerate this project. A “passing siding” is essentially a piece of additional side track, approximately 1000 feet long, that allows one train to pass another and thereby increase both the frequency and capacity of trains to and from New Canaan. The projected cost of a passing siding is somewhere between $40-100M. That staggering price tag depends on dozens of variables and layers of approval from various authorities including the state and Metro-North Railroad.
The New Canaan delegation, with First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, met with Commissioner Giulietti and his Assistant Rail Administrator on February 24 to get more facts and to coordinate our efforts as a delegation. What we learned from the commissioner is that this project requires a feasibility study to model not only where the siding should be placed but what impact it would have on train schedules, frequency and passenger load. The number of trains from New Canaan to New York depends on the number of available station berths on the receiving end. For years, the available endpoints have been restricted. But the good news is some new endpoints may be opening soon in Penn Station as early as 2022, allowing more frequent trains on both the east and west side of Manhattan. The timing of this proposed project for New Canaan is good. We are working every channel to get approval for the $1M feasibility study. We have made that request and are advocating for it as a team.
But this is also an opportune time to explore transportation financing in general. We need to address the complex issue of transportation financing with a holistic approach. And if we work together as problem-solvers, we can resolve any issue we face – particularly more frequent and faster train service to our town. Working together is always the best way forward.
We hope you will join us, Commission Giulietti and First Selectman Kevin Moynihan on March 18th at 7PM in New Canaan Town Hall for a discussion on New Canaan’s train line and moving this discussion forward.
—Sen. Alex Kasser, Rep. Lucy Dathan, Sen. Will Haskell and Rep. Tom O’Dea
Fantastic!! It is great that everybody is working together on this, and I do hope that we have a strong turnout on March 18th 7pm at City Hall. This is very well timed with our budget season, and the various significant investment asks of the community.
The only real material way to jump start our local real estate market (which will control the mill rate development – and allow people who want to sell homes at higher prices than otherwise) is to bring New Canaan commuting options more in line with other similar tristate towns we are competing with for new residents. Attracting new residents is very important economically for New Canaan.
The long-term Metro-North plan as of now, appears to keep our train schedule the same as it is today for the next 10+ years. If we stick with that it is easy to project that New Canaan will continue to be less desirable for potential new commuting residents, continue to dampen our real estate market, and either result in more pressure on spending requests, or a faster increase in the mill rate.
We need to get a full study done by CT DOT quickly so we can have a good handle on the true investment costs, and the responsibility of each entity (Towns / State / MTA / Federal). For New Canaan we will need to come to terms with the present lack of long-term commuter parking, which is a real negative for new and prospective residents – if we upgrade rail service that parking bottleneck will only become more pronounced (we have 430 people on the waitlist today – that wait list is 2 years in Richmond Hill and 6+ at the Lumberyard).
We should have an end year 2020 target for an investment decision so we can aim to have an improved branch line ready for Metro-North direct access to Penn Station. We as a town do not benefit in any way by delaying these investments.
Improved service should be popular with everybody as the train is electrified and as such lower carbon than traditional driving, provides an essential service for all economic segments of society, promotes job creation, and more frequent (and hopefully faster service as well) and will provide more family time for everybody who takes the train – rather than sitting and waiting in a station for the next train to come.
I’m a little confused about the request for a passing siding. The other day, walking by the train station, I distinctly saw 3 tracks by the train station. Decades ago I watched trains pull into the station, drop off their passengers, back up, then pull forward onto the adjacent track to wait safely while another train arrived on the main track. So what exactly is the passing siding, if not what we already have/had?
Also, how would more berths at Penn Station help New Canaan, seeing as our tracks go to Grand Central, not Penn Station? Is someone planning a major reroute in NYC?
Hi Barbara – you are right about the operation at the Station in New Canaan – it is still that way. What we are looking for is a place for trains to pass each other between Springdale and Talmadge Hill – this will allow us to run 2 trains on the track at the same time increasing train frequency. The New Canaan Branch had such a siding until the 1970’s. Regarding Penn Station yes, a big revamp is in process allowing access from CT to both Penn Station and Grand Central via Metro North within a few years. You are welcome to read more at https://ctcommuterrailcouncil.org/new-canaan-branch-proposed-upgrade/. I would also be happy to lead a small town discussion before this meeting on the 18th with anybody interested so people are better informed prior to the meeting with the Legislators, First Selectman and CT DOT Commissioner.