It was only three years ago that the Connecticut Department of Transportation made a big hoopla over adding electric-powered M8 trains to the Shore Line East rail line from New Haven to New London, promoting how clean, quiet and fast they were.  

Gov. Ned Lamont hailed them as “fighting climate change by investing in cleaner, greener transportation.”  Passengers loved the new cars for their quick acceleration, comfy seats and plugs for charging their devices.

Now CDOT says they’re too expensive to operate and will be replaced by the older diesel locomotives and second-hand coaches from Virginia.

As CDOT Garrett Eucalitto told lawmakers, reverting to diesels is better than cutting service, as if this was the only option in his $15 billion five-year transportation program.

Does CDOT want to kill Shore Line East?

It sure seems so… and with Amtrak’s help.  

Post-COVID, while the other rail lines were restored to full service, Shore Line East was not.  CDOT blamed low ridership … the predictable result of running fewer trains and then acting surprised when fewer people ride them. 

Compared with the shiny M8 trains, diesels are slower to accelerate and create a witches brew of noxious gases even though they burn what’s called ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel, the railroad equivalent of “clean coal.”  Nothing says “climate leadership” like bringing back the spewing exhaust.

The real reasons for this reversion?

First, Metro-North needs those Shoreline East M8’s to run elsewhere.  They’ve already been sighted on the Harlem line.  When equipment gets tight, the shoreline always seems to be the first place CDOT looks for “flexibility.”  

And second, because CDOT says it can save $8.8 million by not having to pay Amtrak for electricity to power the M8’s or for the privilege of using their overhead catenary power lines.

Amtrak is acting like a greedy electric company… charging you to plug your hair-dryer in their socket even before you turn it on.  But saving $8.8 million by making service worse is the kind of efficiency that only works on spreadsheets.

Does Amtrak hate commuter rail?

While in most of the U.S. Amtrak operates as a guest on freight railroads’ tracks, in the Northeast Corridor they’re the boss and their profitable Acela trains get the VIP treatment while commuter lines schedule their trains in between.  That’s why Amtrak is able to bully CDOT and Shore Line East: it’s their tracks and wires.

But in Connecticut where the state owns the tracks west from New Haven to the New York state line, Amtrak is our customer and we get to call the shots.  So why doesn’t CDOT just tell Amtrak to play nice if they want to keep those over-priced Acela trains on time?

Amtrak pays Metro-North a bonus for keeping its trains on schedule in Metro-North territory.  Maybe we could make a deal for letting our M8’s keep running on Shore Line East?

New locomotives and rail cars.

CDOT has 60 new passenger cars and six dual-mode locomotives on order which should start arriving later this year.  But none are promised to Shore Line East.  Instead the branch line riders to Waterbury and Hartford will be riding in style (in cars with Wifi) while Shore Line East commuters (or what’s left of them), are clunking along in 35-year-old hand-me-down trains.  Hartford gets Wifi while New London gets nostalgia with a cloud of diesel exhaust.

Shore Line East was created to relieve highway congestion on I-95.  Now it risks becoming a case study in how to discourage rail ridership without ever formally abandoning it.  Is it any surprise that locals refer to the southeast part of our state as “Connecticut’s forgotten corner?”

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Following the publication of this column, the Connecticut Department of Transportation provided the following corrective information (boldface items are reiterated from the column above):

• As CDOT Garrett Eucalitto told lawmakers, reverting to diesels is better than cutting service, as if this was the only option in his $15 billion five-year transportation program.

$15 billion is the five-year CTDOT Capital Plan, not the annual CTDOT operating budget. Shore Line East services, like all public transportation services, are paid for with state appropriations in the state budget. CTDOT cannot use capital bonds to pay for operations. Implying CTDOT could move capital funds to pay $8.8 million in state appropriations is disingenuous. Additionally, the Special Transportation Fund (STF) has limits, and the state has a constitutional spending cap that must be adhered to.

• The real reasons for this reversion? First, Metro-North needs those Shoreline East M8’s to run elsewhere.

This is false and was never part of the consideration when making this recommendation. The M8s are temporarily being used on the Harlem Line because they are part of a pool of equipment shared between CTDOT and Metro-North Railroad. The equipment used on the Harlem Line had serious mechanical problems following the recent snowstorms, and CTDOT is helping. The M8s are coming back to SLE service shortly.

• So why doesn’t CDOT just tell Amtrak to play nice if they want to keep those over-priced Acela trains on time? Amtrak pays Metro-North a bonus for keeping its trains on schedule in Metro-North territory. Maybe we could make a deal for letting our M8’s keep running on Shore Line East?

This is not possible. The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA) established the Northeast Corridor Commission and with it, a standardized cost-sharing formula for commuter and intercity rail services on the Northeast Corridor. This cost allocation model is based on use, with payments made between owners and operators of the corridor. Everyone must follow the formulas adopted, there is no negotiating.

• CDOT has 60 new passenger cars and six dual-mode locomotives on order which should start arriving later this year.  But none are promised to Shore Line East. Instead the branch line riders to Waterbury and Hartford will be riding in style (in cars with Wifi) while Shore Line East commuters (or what’s left of them), are clunking along in 35-year-old hand-me-down trains.

This is false. CTDOT has said in multiple recent interviews that Shore Line East would use the new rail cars when they enter passenger service if still running the diesel equipment. Example: Why CT could pull electric trains off a rail line in favor of diesel