Every train journey, whether a cross-country adventure on Amtrak or a mundane daily commute on Metro-North, starts at a station. How nice is your town’s?
Talking Transportation
Talking Transportation is a weekly opinion column written by Jim Cameron, a longtime CT Viewpoints contributor and rail advocate based in southwestern Connecticut.
Summer in CT: a great time for ‘training’ your kids
Consider visiting one of Connecticut’s many living museums celebrating our state’s rail heritage. And remember… kids are free at Connecticut museums this summer!
The MTA tells the truth — as it nears the financial cliff
The MTA, parent of Metro-North, did something rare last week:Â they told us the unvarnished truth.
The Merritt Parkway is not for trucks
Trucks are, with few exceptions, not allowed on the Merritt Parkway… and with good reason.
CT’s commuter rail is still too slow
Yes, there are new trains on the Waterbury branch… and three new express trains from New Haven, but overall our rail service in Connecticut is still too slow.
Hope for new Hudson River tunnels
A new agreement could help widen a gateway vital to the Northeast’s economy, including Connecticut’s.
We assume we are safe on Amtrak and Metro-North
When we board a train in Hartford or New Haven, we settle into our seat and zone out. We assume we’re safe. That’s what passengers on an Amtrak train in Missouri thought last week.
Welcome to Connecticut?
First impressions count.  And the first impressions we give visitors arriving on I-95 aren’t as positive as they should be.
Readers like to rail, then rant
I love getting feedback from you, my faithful readers. So I thought I’d share some recent comments.
Why do trains have names?
Ah, for the glory days of American railroads!
One toke over the Connecticut line
While Connecticut is still months away from legal recreational pot sales, it could be a boon for tourism and tax revenue when it finally happens.
New M8 cars notwithstanding, Shore Line East’s future not bright
Now that the M8s are finally running on Shoreline East, trains will run a bit faster. But the problem is there are so few passengers.
Hovercraft service from Bridgeport to NYC — an idea whose time came, then went
A little known part of Connecticut’s transportation history is that almost 40 years ago, commuters could ride in a hovercraft from Bridgeport to New York City.
One million U.S. deaths and Connecticut’s spotty recovery continues
How are we all recovering from this pandemic? Joining transportation experts last week on a panel discussion, I heard mixed results.
Why is there still no free Wi-Fi on Metro-North?
Commuter railroads across the U.S. offer Wifi, including Boston’s MBTA. Not Metro-North, but that may change.