# CT 2050 Rail & Transit Plans / Proposals



## Nexis4Jersey (Feb 9, 2011)

Same as the MNRR / LIRR maps just for CT , abit different , this has Urban Transit.... The MNRR plans kinda overlap CT's plans....

CT 2050 Rail / Transit plan

*CT DOT Regional Rail*

Location : Connecticut 

Daily Ridership : 135,000 (Projected 2030 Ridership : 830,000)

System size : 32 mi

Stations : 185

*Future Upgrades / Extensions : Danbury Electrification , Restoration of the Pittsfield line , Extension of Shoreline East to Westerly,RI , Restoration of the Central Manchester Branch , Restoration of the Waterbury - Hartford line , Restoration of Torrington Branch , Restoration of the Connecticut River branch , Restoration of the Middletown branch , Waterbury Branch upgrades , Restoration of the Thames River / Worcester line , Upgrades to the New Haven line and more stations.*

*Rural / Low Density Commute Corridor : 500-3,000 Rail Commuters*

*Low Commute Corridor : 3-15,000 daily Rail Commuters*

*Medium Commute Corridor : 15-30,000 daily Rail Commuters*

*High Commute Corridor : 30-80,000 daily Rail Commuters*

*High Density Commute Corridor : 85,000+ Rail Commuters*

*HLP = High Level Platforms*

*NOP = No Parking*

*Current System *

New Haven line - High Density Commute Corridor

Danbury Branch - Low Density Commute Corridor

Waterbury Branch - Rural Commute Corridor

New Canaan Branch - Low Commute Corridor 

Shore line East - Low Commute Corridor

New Haven - Springfield Shuttle - Low Density Commute Corridor

*Danbury Enhancements / Electrification*

This Corridor has been neglected for decades and missed important Ridership gaining opportunities. But a few improvements should add a decent amount of Ridership. 3 New Stations , 2 in Norwalk should boost Ridership to decent levels. The 2 Norwalk stations would serve the Denser Downtown area and New Developments near the New Haven line split. The other station would be in Georgetown and would serve the proposed Factory Pond Development. Electrification in my opinion can hold off till the mid 2020s... 

*Housatonic Railroad Pittsfield line*

*Low Commute Corridor*

 

It seems to be coming back form the dead , although other then the section form Danbury to New Milford the line is pretty dead in terms of population. However its worth a try , to at least restore it....

*Restoration of the Beacon line*

*Low Commute Corridor*

 

This line would serve a growing part of the NYC region , it would act as a connector between Hudson , Harlem , Danbury , and Waterbury lines. TOD generated by this line would create a ridership spike.....although Ridership would be low it would still be enough to justify a line. But this would not come this or even the next decade , probably sometime in the 2030s. Stations would include Beacon Town Center / NOP , Fishkill , Brinckernoff , Hopewell JCT , Brewster , Danbury , Newton , and Shelton. 

The CT section has some prime spots for TOD like in Danbury and Shelton....and would probably play a key role in future smart growth...

*Torrington Branch*

*Low Commute Corridor* 

 

It would be a spur off the Waterbury branch and would give some relief to the Route 8 Corridor....and spur some Redevelopment in Torrington. The ROW seems to be intact for the most part , so NIMBY's are the only issue when it comes to restoring this line. Depending on how its restored will affect Ridership. 

*Waterbury - Hartford Rail Line*

*Medium Commute Corridor *

 

This Railway would serve one of the fastest growing corridors in CT. Although its unclear whether the BRT will have a delay on this railway and there seems to be confusion on where the BRT would go. Rail would better serve this corridor then any BRT line or system....

*New Haven - Springfield Corridor*

*High Commute Corridor *

 

This is self explanatory... it would act as the Central CT Version of the NEC and would have many branches feeding into it...

*Central Middletown Branch*

*Low Commute Corridor*

 

This line would serve as ALT to the New Haven - Springfield Corridor and would follow into the Route 9 Rail Corridor. If this line were to be restored that should only happen if or when the New Haven - Springfield starts to overflow. This line would have 2 Benefits , re-routing trains off the NH-SP line and giving the population of Middletown a easier commuter to New Haven.

*Route 9 Rail Corridor *

*Low Commute Corridor*

 

This Corridor would connect the NEC @ Old Saybrook and Hartford. It would serve a unique corridor mostly rural intill Middletown where Suburbia would start. Central Middletown Branch trains would merge at Middletown and head North to Hartford. This line would spur redevelopment in Hartford , Wethersfield , Rocky Hill and Middletown. The ROW is intact although some parts have been converted to trails which pose an issue in the restoration process.

*Shore Line East extension to Westerly*

*Low Commute Corridor*

 

Would fill in the gaps in Amtrak's service and offer lower fares.... Stations would be at Nonak , Mystic , Stonington and Pawtucket / Westerly....Extending this service would probably come in the early 2020s..

*Northeastern line*

*Low Commute Corridor *

 

This line would run along mostly abandoned ROW and serve the towns / cities of Worcester , New London , Norwich , Putnam Disrect , Oxford and Webster. Aka the I-395 Corridor , the Corridor itself is mostly rural but the towns are dense and have a decent population. Commuting habits seem to point southward towards New London and a handle of commuters head up towards Worcester. This line will play a role in a few others in Eastern CT and RI. This line should be restored in the Early 2020s...

*NL--Providence rerouter line*

*Low Commute Corridor*

 

This line would Branch off form the Northeastern line @ Moosup. It would provide an Alt for Amtrak Regional Trains wishing to bypass the southern coast of RI which is posed to become congested in the coming decades. The line would mainly serve RI and provide Commuter Rail services form Providence to West Warwick.

*Ayer line*

*Low Commute Corridor* 

 

This line would branch off form the Northeastern line @ Norwich and head North to Ayer,MA. Serving towns and cities like Norwich , Williamantic , Storrs , Stafford springs and Ayer... This line would be most used by University of CT @ Storr Students and Tourists.....

*Central Manchester Branch*

*Low Commute Corridor*

 

This line would connect Hartford , with Central Manchester and Williamantic.... It would serve a semi Suburban / Rural corridor and connect into the Ayer line....offering a different way by train to New London.

*Streetcars*

*New Haven *

This Network would connect Union Station with the Core of Downtown , Fair Haven , Prospect Hill , Allington , and West Haven. It would without a doubt cause an explosion in TOD which would add to the ridership... Buses would be reconfigured to feed into the system....

*Stamford*

 

This system would connect the train station with the Sound End and Downtown along with Glenbrook and Ridgeway. Stamford is already seeing a decent amount of TOD , the Streetcar system would enhance that growth.

*Bridgeport *

 

The Bridgeport Streetcar system would have a downtown circulatory and fingers branching off to the South End , Brooklawn , North End , North Bridgeport , Black rock and Boston Hill. This system would probably give Bridgeport that push to recover and become a decent city again...

*Hartford *

Hartford's system would connect the core of the city with Upper Albany , Blue Hills , West End , Parkville , South End , North End & Barry Square. A Circulatory line would run around the core and connect most of the lines. Hartford Station would be used as a center point of the Downtown system.

*So what do you think of my plans , and other bloggers....there reasonable? **Ridership projections include Streetcar ridership and factor in line growth....*


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## Long Train Runnin' (Feb 9, 2011)

I really have to say you are quite forward thinking. I don't know enough about CT to really comment, but you are proposing quite a bit of new service.


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## Nexis4Jersey (Feb 10, 2011)

Long Train Runnin said:


> I really have to say you are quite forward thinking. I don't know enough about CT to really comment, but you are proposing quite a bit of new service.


I look way into the Future , i have the plans for NJ but there still being tweaked....


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## Train2104 (Feb 10, 2011)

This is what I believe is necessary for SLE


Double sided platforms at all stations
All trains to New London
Clock-face hourly schedule
New station in Niantic
Weekday service to Westerly, stopping at Mystic
RIPTA should create a new service, PVD to WES, to connect.

Hartford-Springfield line needs to be built with daily service, MBTA needs to be extended from Worcester to Springfield. Danbury should be extended to New Milford with more passing sidings. Waterbury needs signals and more passing sidings. A streetcar or trolleybus line should be built between New Haven Union and downtown and should run 7 days a week.

Other stuff is superfluous.


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