Hartford Line CtDOT New Haven-Springfield - NHHS (Before Launch of Service)

The article mentions 110 MPH service, does that mean the P32's/P40's are capable of that? I've ridden the Empire Service to Albany and know they can go 90 MPH or thereabouts but 110? I also question how beneficial that speed will be given that we're talking about a 65 mile line with 11 stations?

I think the higher speed could be beneficial. What they've been talking about is having express service (Amtrak) and local service (ConnDOT).

The restored double-track will probably help too -allow faster Amtrak trains to run around slower ConnDOT commuter trains.

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Patrick A. wrote:The article mentions 110 MPH service, does that mean the P32's/P40's are capable of that? I've ridden the Empire Service to Albany and know they can go 90 MPH or thereabouts but 110? I also question how beneficial that speed will be given that we're talking about a 65 mile line with 11 stations?

Amtrak's Gennies (at least the entire Eastern U.S. fleet) are all rated for 110, so CDOT is set with the P40's. I don't know about the GP40's or the full contingent of SLE coaches, but I would think those have to be good for at least 90 MPH on the Shoreline. 90 is generally the sweet spot for commuter rail station spacing so there probably isn't much upside to maintaining a faster fleet than that. But Amtrak will definitely realize the full benefits. They're likely going to drop some stops off the schedule when commuter rail takes over. I can't see Windsor sticking around on the Amtrak schedule when it's so close to Hartford and Windsor Locks. I can't see any of the new stops being added to the Amtrak schedule. I could see one other in the Berlin/Meriden/Wallingford group getting dropped...whichever has the lowest ridership. So they'll definitely be hitting 110 for goodly-sized stretches.

I'm intrigued at exactly what kind of grade crossing protection they have in mind to eliminate those speed restrictions. Wallingford and Meriden are not ever going to be fast...but they can be faster. How much faster? They thinking quad gates downtown? Definitely the isolated crossings south of there ought to be able to go full-blast with the right combo of crossing protection upgrades. I'm very interested to see hard specs on those plans, because dissolving those speed restrictions may be the biggest boost of all.

Patrick A. wrote:I've ridden the Empire Service to Albany and know they can go 90 MPH or thereabouts but 110?

110 mph – Another step up in track standards (current top speed along dedicated track between Hudson-Albany/Rensselaer and Schenectady).
from High Speed Rail Empire Corridor Project newsletter published by NYS DOT

https://www.dot.ny.gov/content/delivery ... h_2012.pdf

The quote above the link is from page three of DOT's March 2012 newsletter.

Ok I see it now, so Amtrak will eliminate some stops on the Shuttle once the commuter operation gets into gear, thereby making the 110mph limit more effective. Hypothetically, Amtrak service would turn into SPG-Windsor Locks-Hartford-(Berlin/Meriden/Wallingford)-New Haven, while the commuter service goes local and maybe some skip-stop during peak hours? With the speed boost and fewer stops, you could probably do SPG-NHV in 75-80 minutes express and 90-100 minutes local, not bad, that would really compete with taking the car.

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote: I'm intrigued at exactly what kind of grade crossing protection they have in mind to eliminate those speed restrictions. Wallingford and Meriden are not ever going to be fast...but they can be faster. How much faster? They thinking quad gates downtown? Definitely the isolated crossings south of there ought to be able to go full-blast with the right combo of crossing protection upgrades. I'm very interested to see hard specs on those plans, because dissolving those speed restrictions may be the biggest boost of all.

Meriden is terrible, and not even so much because of cars. EVERY time I go to Meriden, I see someone walk around the gates when they're down and the train is coming at that crossing north of the station. When I see things like that it's no wonder pedestrian strikes are so common through the area - and if the trains are going faster, I'm sure that will unfortunately be even more prevalent. Something does need to be done to keep the crossings safe when the speeds are upped.

Let's keep this on topic.

Speaking of which, are you guys asleep this week LOL? I hope Malloy got a tetanus shot after visiting Meriden. Wonder what they did with the crack addicts hanging out there? Right, scalpels?

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/inde ... k_for_2016

Commuters like Camryn Brooks will no longer have to wait four hours to catch a train back home from Hartford, after the federal government Monday issued $121 million to send more trains zipping between New Haven and Springfield.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Monday officially accepted $121 million from the Federal Railroad Administration to turn the little-used north-south corridor that cuts through the middle of the state into a “high-speed” rail line.

The money, first announced in 2010 and officially disbursed Monday in a ceremonial deal-signing at the Meriden train station, will pay for the state to boost the “almost non-existent” rail service between New Haven, Hartford and Springfield, said state transportation Commissioner James Redeker.

The “transformational” project is the “culmination of many years of hard work,” Redeker said.

The $121 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration, coupled with a $142 million investment from the state, will pay to expand the rail line from one track to two tracks between New Haven and Hartford, allowing more trains to run.

http://www.myrecordjournal.com/meriden/ ... 963f4.html

The project includes reinstalling 10 miles of track from North Haven to Meriden; installing three interlocking tracks in North Haven, Meriden and Berlin; connecting additional sidings for freight cars; installing 20 miles of underground communication cable; upgrading 28 grade crossings; and constructing new high-level platforms, overhead bridge access and parking improvements at the Wallingford, Meriden and Berlin stations.

The 62-mile project calls for service every 30 minutes during peak periods and every 60 minutes at other times, The Associated Press reported Monday. Speeds would reach up to 110 miles an hour.

With Meriden in the middle of the rail project, and major downtown projects in the works, Mayor Michael S. Rohde said the city will see a lot of changes.

“It’s going to be a time of hard hats and cranes in the air for Meriden,” Rohde said. “The rail will be operational by 2016. That’s a lot of work in the next three years.”

http://nhregister.com/articles/2012/10/ ... viewmode=2

As a result of the project, the number of trains along the 62-mile corridor will increase from 12 per day today to 34 by 2016, Redeker said. Trains will reach speeds of up to 110 mph and travel times will be reduced significantly, making rail travel far more attractive and competitive in the corridor, he said.

The first phase of construction — the installation of underground communication cable — will begin later this month, Redeker said.

Larson, in whose congressional district the northern half of the Connecticut portion lies — with the exception of Enfield, which is in Courtney’s district — said the announcement was one “that we’ve been waiting for for a long time.”

I took the Shuttle train today for the first time, between New Haven and Windsor Locks. It was a 2-car train and only 1 car was open. Ridership between New Haven and Hartford seems to be higher than north of Hartford. In my view having 30+ trains a day seems a bit much, based on the ridership level that I saw. I'd think that 2-car EMU sets every hour (and more during rush hours) would be the most that this line could handle (and I mean EMU, not diesel- this line should be electrified).

I assume that Amtrak would continue to serve the line once the commuter trains start, but that much service just seems excessive. Remember Independence Air- hourly service to cities all around the East and Southeast? It was too much service, and it went under.

Construction has begun, in the form of cable installation.

Announcement: http://www.nhhsrail.com/info_center/new ... stallation_

Not particularly important on its own, but necessary before the double-tracking work can begin. And more importantly, this is actually getting built.

SouthernRailway wrote:I took the Shuttle train today for the first time, between New Haven and Windsor Locks. It was a 2-car train and only 1 car was open. Ridership between New Haven and Hartford seems to be higher than north of Hartford. In my view having 30+ trains a day seems a bit much, based on the ridership level that I saw. I'd think that 2-car EMU sets every hour (and more during rush hours) would be the most that this line could handle (and I mean EMU, not diesel- this line should be electrified).

I assume that Amtrak would continue to serve the line once the commuter trains start, but that much service just seems excessive. Remember Independence Air- hourly service to cities all around the East and Southeast? It was too much service, and it went under.

They'll be running it with the current SLE diesel fleet, which will be displaced by then. So that's probably going to mean 3-4 car trains.

The Shuttle only has subsistence-level usefulness: 4 daily round-trips at the quasi-discounted Amtrak "commuter" fare. And it still did 380,000 passengers last year. The demand is well-studied. Hit a useful minimum of runs at real commuter fares, line up the last-mile connections from the stations, and this is about as good a bet for a success as there is for new service in the region. I do think 30 trains a day is a lot further off than they think it's going to be, but moreso because of capital costs for new equipment and congestion mitigation in grade crossing hell. But the initial start (pending completion of all the infill stops) is equivalent to today's SLE schedule and that's eminently appropriate for a much denser corridor with 3 big-city downtowns + Bradley access that beats the hell out of braving I-91 from anywhere south of Hartford. I mean, people have to be patient...it's not going to smash records in Year 1 because the corridor was not as acclimated to conveniently frequent trains as the Shoreline was when SLE opened. But 5 years?...yeah, I think they'll be outstripping the capacity of the available coach supply, will have to add a number of runs, will probably be exploring alt routing options, and may be getting some agitation from the towns for more infill stops.

They can't displace the entire SLE fleet until at least New London has M8-suitable platforms - which has not entered design and is thus not going to happen by 2016 or so. So CDOT won't have the full fleet available, which makes me wonder where they're going to get enough rolling stock. Perhaps as the MBTA replaces their older stock CDOT'll snatch it up for a song for a few years.

Amanda Falcone in [i]The Hartford Courant[/i] wrote:Initially, when the enhanced intercity rail service begins in 2016, there will be 17 round-trips between New Haven and Hartford each day — with 13 trains providing continuing service to Springfield....

http://articles.courant.com/2012-10-01/ ... rain-route

The seventeen round-trips a day is enough to provide hourly service from 6 AM to 10 PM with an extra rush hour train added. For a suburban/commuter service a morning-to-night-every-hour service is really the bare minimum. Big gaps in service deter ridership according to the surveys by the American Public Transit Association, an industry group.
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The EGE wrote:They can't displace the entire SLE fleet until at least New London has M8-suitable platforms - which has not entered design and is thus not going to happen by 2016 or so. So CDOT won't have the full fleet available, which makes me wonder where they're going to get enough rolling stock. Perhaps as the MBTA replaces their older stock CDOT'll snatch it up for a song for a few years.

They won't have any problem acquiring coaches...there's a vigorous aftermarket for those. But they will need equipment that can do 90 MPH on the upgraded track, which the MBTA's old beaters can't do. Plus the T's MBB fleet is decomposing at an alarming rate, so those really aren't worth the high cost of a rebuild when they're fully disposed in 2 years. There's better options available.

I dunno...if any of NJ Transit's recently retired Comets are in acceptable enough condition for a not-too-expensive overhaul that's probably a more palatable option given the similarity to the Shoreliners in CDOT's existing fleet. That or somebody else with similar Comet-lineage cars.

Will they really need more equipment though? IIRC only about half of the rebuilt Mafersa cars are in active service with the rest of them sitting in New Haven waiting to be used. If anything a bigger concern should be the locomotives. For one thing CDOT doesn't seem to have any intention on having the P40s rebuilt or even having the GPs rebuilt again.

Tommy Meehan wrote:

Amanda Falcone in [i]The Hartford Courant[/i] wrote:Initially, when the enhanced intercity rail service begins in 2016, there will be 17 round-trips between New Haven and Hartford each day — with 13 trains providing continuing service to Springfield....

http://articles.courant.com/2012-10-01/ ... rain-route

The seventeen round-trips a day is enough to provide hourly service from 6 AM to 10 PM with an extra rush hour train added. For a suburban/commuter service a morning-to-night-every-hour service is really the bare minimum. Big gaps in service deter ridership according to the surveys by the American Public Transit Association, an industry group.
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Remember that Shore Line East service started off slowly as well. This is only the initial service pattern. It will prove itself and they will add more trains.