Status of Danbury Branch Signalization Project

Sarge wrote:I used to take that Peter Pan bus once in a while. Talk about a circuitous (sp?) journey. CT-NY-NJ-NY. Crazy stuff, even if shorter. The train is much nicer.

One thing I hope the signalization does is allow for some semi-express service, say, Danbury, Bethel, then express to SoNo, followed by a local. Eventually, you can extend that express to New Milford.

As for the Danbury-Brewster connection, that would be nice, but I think it's been debunked on here due to a lack of direct connection West-South at Dykemans. Too bad, though, since WP is a major destination. Driving is still much quicker since many of those jobs are along Westchester Av and not in downtown WP.

I used to take it now and then when they called themselves "Bonanza". It was on-time and comfortable, and the times sometimes fit into my schedule better than the train. The route it takes varies based on daily traffic conditions, which means that it sometimes does skip into NJ if that's the best way in at the moment.

I was just dreaming with the Danbury <--> Brewster connection. I believe that the bridges in Brewster need some work before passenger trains will be going that way at all. That line snakes around the old hat factories and I doubt that it would take less than 40 minutes to make that connection even if it readily existed.

Trainer wrote:

DutchRailnut wrote:Why even suggest dumping Connecticut passengers on New York subsidized transportation.
the current government is already doing that with Danbury to Brewster shuttles and Ridgfield to Purdy's bus.
They are screwing the New york taxpayers at about 60 cents on every transportation dollar.

The Harlem line trains are running anyway on the weekends, with (usually) plenty of room on them, so why not ride them? It doesn't cost NY state a dime extra to take some CT weekend passengers, who are probably going to NY to spend money there while shopping, eating, or seeing a show. The city and state make out much better than if the person stayed home.

Besides, it's better than having these folks getting into the habit of taking Peter Pan from Danbury, which gets into the Port Authority bus station about 20 minutes ahead of the typical Danbury line train getting into GCT.

Actually, those late-Sunday-afternoon trains on the Harlem are pretty crowded, particularly the diesel express from Wassaic, by the time they reach Katonah. And, speaking for myself (and in terms of someone travellling from Ridgefield to New York) I far prefer the experience of waiting for a train (or bus) at Branchville than at the windblown concrete overpass that is the Katonah station. Besides, you can make it from Ridgefield Center to Branchville in 10 minutes, vs. 25+ for Ridgefield-Katonah.

It's just easier taking a Harlem Line train from Golden's Bridge to GCT, it's only 43 miles. To take a train from Branchville to GCT is 53 miles plus a lot of very slow tracks.

Clean Cab wrote:It's just easier taking a Harlem Line train from Golden's Bridge to GCT, it's only 43 miles. To take a train from Branchville to GCT is 53 miles plus a lot of very slow tracks.

The most convenient Harlem Division station for Ridgefield is Katonah. That's where the bus service goes (not to Purdy's, as mentioned earlier). When you factor in the drive to the station it's more or less six-in-one, half-dozen the other in terms of time at rush hour if you're coming from Ridgefield Center. Branchville has a bit more right at the station and immediately adjacent (the muffin/coffee shop in the station building, a Dunkin Donuts across route 7, Ancona's Market) than does Katonah. Also, parking's free. The people who do commute regularly to NY from Ridgefield are pretty much split between Katonah and Branchville partisans; there are also a decent number of people who drive down Route 123 and catch the train in New Canaan (used to be a lot more when Talmadge Hill and New Canaan were mostly meters).

For myself, I prefer the station that's 3 miles away from my family's house over the one that's 13 miles away. That's just personal preference, though-- like prefering Dunkin Donuts over Starbucks.

With the new signal system that is going in on the Danbury Branch is it going to be ACSES or would that feature be installed in a couple of years when they do all of Metro-North. Seems like it would make sense to install ACSES on the Danbury branch since they are already doing the construction anyway. But like anything I'm sure that it comes down to cost.

From what I understand the system will be with ACSES ut untill all locomotives and cab cars are equiped the functions will not work.
it will work same as current CTC/CAb/ATC system.

Thats nice that the new system will be equipped for the capability for ACSES. I take it that they must be getting pretty close to beginning construction on the new system?

Found this article on the Danbury News-Times website today. Looks like the preliminary work has already begun on the construction of the new signal system. According to the article sounds like the first service disruption will be from August to November that will affect off-peak trains and the second disruption will happen from April to July in 2011. Glad to see that the construction has finally begun.

DANBURY -- Construction along the Danbury branch of the Metro-North Railroad will cause months of service outages later this year, but officials said the improvements will be well worth the inconvenience.

The installation of a new signaling system, a $60 million project already begun, will allow improved service and additional capacity on the line, which was once considered an orphan of the state's transportation system.

"This project, when completed, will improve the overall efficiency and safety of the line," Gov. M. Jodi Rell said. "This means less delays and more reliable, on-time service for commuters, and it opens the door for potential expanded service options at a later time."

Construction crews have begun the preliminary site work on the line, checking for existing cables and moving them out of the way so they won't be damaged during the major construction phases in the next year.

Here is the link to the article.
http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/C ... 442497.php

A second article mentions improved scheduling along the Danbury Branch.

DANBURY -- A new and improved train schedule could be in place for the Danbury branch line within two years, officials said.

Gene Colonese, rail administrator for the state Department of Transportation, said planners will start working on an improved schedule for the line while the new signal system is being constructed.

The schedule, he said, will be ready as soon as the signal system is brought online around May 2012.

"We'll be able to run more trains in the same direction at the same time and trains in different directions during specific times," he said.

Essentially, trains will be able to come and go from stations at much shorter intervals then they can now, providing for more frequent service.

Here is the link to the article:
http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/ ... 442502.php

I also found a PDF power point presentation on danburybranchstudy.com that in it has a pretty good timeline of all the construction activities that will be taking place between now and when the new system is commissioned in 2012. Looks as if the Major Construction is going to begin around May 15th with the power substation site work.

Here is the link to the power-point presentation from danburybranchstudy.com The time line is on page 8.
http://www.danburybranchstudy.com/docum ... 10-PPT.pdf

MNCRR9000 wrote:According to the article sounds like the first service disruption will be from August to November that will affect off-peak trains and the second disruption will happen from April to July in 2011. Glad to see that the construction has finally begun.

Yep. From the April 2010 Commuter Council minutes:

Mr. Redecker said that the project for putting signals on the Danbury line was moving forward. He reminded the Council that starting in August there will be midday buses on the Danbury line.

Looking at the powerpoint, I was impressed by the the amount speeds would be increased if the curves were fixed up, by how much would it reduce existing running times?

Nearly not at all, you gain 24 seconds per 2 miles of 60 vs 50 mph, only problem is there are stations and it takes a train almost a mile to get upto 50 mph.

So Dutch, how much in minutes does that translate into?

lets just say if entire line were to be made 70 mph and no restrictions, the station stops would still slow you down enough to make total gain only 4 minutes.
not worth the $60 milion in track upgrades in my opinion. yes some of restrictions should be removed, and some of 20 and 30 mph sections upgraded to 50 mph.

My RR.net-educated "civilian" impression of the powerpoint/study doc was that the real time savings was gained by electrification, and most of that would be north of Danbury if the branch is extended to New Milford (longer distances involved).

Sarge wrote:My RR.net-educated "civilian" impression of the powerpoint/study doc was that the real time savings was gained by electrification . . . .

I have mentioned this on this forum previously, but here it is again: I well remember riding the branch in the 50s when it was electrified, and I will tell you categorically that the running times then were no different. Those are facts. A DOT study may talk about the idea of electrifying improving the running time, but that is all arithmetic calculation. Arithmetic calculation is necessarily theoretical and may or may not not translate into reality. Others may talk about the idea of electric operation shortening the running time, but I think that is mostly intuitive. I was there --- I rode under wire on that line!

I think TCS will probably make some difference --- as long as it's accompanied by increasing the lengths of the grade crossing circuits where they're short