WASHINGTON — An ambitious — and to some in Connecticut controversial — plan to overhaul the railroad in the Northeast Corridor has come to a full stop, a victim to lack of funding. There also has been pushback to the plan from Fairfield County residents who fear the impact of laying down new high-speed-ready tracks and other development near their neighborhoods.
Federal Railroad Administration
Posted inTransportation
Feds drop Old Saybrook-to-Rhode Island bypass from final rail plan
WASHINGTON — Bowing to local pressure, the Federal Railroad Administration has dropped plans for a controversial new rail line along the eastern Connecticut shore from its ambitious project to overhaul the railroad system in the Northeast corridor.
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
CT rebellion against federal rail plan grows — and may have impact
WASHINGTON — A rebellion that began in Old Lyme and has spread along coastal Connecticut is pressing the federal government to make big changes in an ambitious plan to bring high-speed rail to the Northeast, and to turn the proposal into merely “aspirational” recommendations.
Posted inTransportation
Feeling heat from CT, feds say they may alter high-speed rail plan
WASHINGTON — In the staredown between the Federal Railroad Administration and opponents of a part of its plan in Connecticut to bring high-speed rail to the Northeast Corridor, the federal government has blinked. It has agreed to consider additional input from those concerned about the route the plan would take in Connecticut, and more importantly, the FRA is willing to modify that plan.
Posted inPolitics
Rail overhaul plan is both a winner and a loser in CT
WASHINGTON — Connecticut officials have been more critical than those in any other state of the Federal Railroad Administration’s plan to overhaul train service in the Northeast Corridor, yet some of its strongest critics admit they like much of the plan.
Posted inTransportation
Feds’ undisclosed ‘preferred route’ for rail lines sparks outrage
WASHINGTON – While the federal government was spending months soliciting feedback from the public on several alternatives for overhauling the railroads in the Northeast corridor, it had already identified a preferred plan that would dramatically change rail travel in Connecticut.
Posted inTransportation
Federal rail official: ‘No elevated track’ in Old Lyme; spokesman creates doubt, but later clarifies
OLD LYME — Less than an hour after a top federal rail administrator Wednesday renewed her agency’s promise not to build an aerial rail line through Old Lyme’s historic district, a spokesman for the agency backpedaled on the statement and said it could not be ruled out entirely. The spokesman later amended his comments and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment.
Posted inTransportation
Opponents organizing to derail new route for high-speed trains
OLD LYME — As federal officials near a decision on a railroad proposal residents are calling destructive and wasteful, about 70 people from across the southeastern Connecticut’s shoreline gathered Friday with local, state and federal lawmakers at a forum at Old Lyme Town Hall to find out how they could help stop it “dead in its tracks.”
Posted inTransportation
CT split on rail overhaul; Malloy says repairs should come first
WASHINGTON — There is split opinion in Connecticut on ambitious proposals to overhaul rail service in the Northeast Corridor, with some preferring to put resources into a coastal route to Boston and others backing an inland route that runs through Hartford with a new stop near Storrs.
Posted inTransportation
Amtrak favors one rail overhaul plan, Old Lyme pans another
WASHINGTON – Amtrak is backing an ambitious plan proposed by the Federal Railroad Administration to overhaul rail transportation in the Northeast corridor, a proposal that would cost more than $300 billion. An alternative proposal for a new line through Old Lyme and other shoreline towns drew opposition.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Massive rail plan leaves Connecticut hopeful but mystified
Proposals to reinvent the Northeast Corridor rail system could impact Connecticut more than any other state. But a lack of detail in the plans is causing exasperation even among those who have been pushing for rail improvements for decades, and it has environmentalists worrying whether losses will outweigh the benefits.
Posted inPolitics
Short week for Congress yields defense funding, railroad revival
The U.S. House of Representatives was out and the Senate had a shortened work week because of the Veterans Day holiday, but there was still plenty of activity in Congress. The Senate approved a final defense bill that authorizes billions of dollars in spending on weapon systems developed in Connecticut. The Federal Railroad Administration took a big step forward on an ambitious overhaul of the rail system in the Northeast Corridor.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Transportation
New federal study proposes overhaul of CT railroads — at a cost
WASHINGTON – To tackle congestion in the Northeast Corridor, the Federal Railroad Administration has released an environmental study on ambitious proposals to overhaul Connecticut’s railroad system – possibly adding new routes, high-speed rails and a rail tunnel under Long Island Sound.
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal: Rail safety violators must be fined, but not Connecticut
Sen. Richard Blumenthal wants the Federal Railroad Administration to fine those who fail to meet a Dec. 31 deadline to implement rail safety technology called Positive Train Control — but he would spare Connecticut from punishment.
Posted inNews
Blumenthal, Schumer differ on approach to Metro-North Valhalla crash
WASHINGTON – Sens. Chuck Schumer and Richard Blumenthal held a joint press conference on the fatal crash between a Metro-North train and an SUV in Valhalla, N.Y. ; and though they were on the same telephone line, they weren’t always on the same page.