Problems with a Torrington extension are:
1) 8 is a breeze to drive between Winsted and Waterbury. It's only south of there where the traffic gets bad and the substandard parts of the expressway get accident prone.
2) Torrington is much more of an east-west commuter market than the Waterbury-south towns that never lost their NYC-oriented rail service. And there unfortunately is no way to do a Hartford-Torrington train without a reverse move in Waterbury. Even if they managed to wye it across Thomaston Ave. through some of
these parking lots for a direct, missing Waterbury kills the potential ridership.
I think an express bus + reasonably dense Waterbury-Hartford CR + increased MNRR frequencies would really hit the sweet spot for attracting commuters from that area and relieving I-84 traffic. But I can't see this line going real-deal commuter rail until some >2030 era that's out-of-range for reliably predicting commute patterns/demand. The lack of an E-W one-seat is too problematic, and N-S demand north of Waterbury isn't enough to float the expense and running time alone. CDOT has too many other higher-upside corridors to tap first: NHHS full scale-up, SLE New London-Westerly + RIDOT transfer, MNRR Danbury-New Milford, Hartford-Waterbury, Hartford-Manchester shuttle, Bradley Airport shuttle, etc.