Improved commuter service for the Springfield line?

Seems to be some serious talk in CT about a commuter line between these cities.

What kind of equip. do you think would fit best to supplement Amtrack ?

Light Rail ?

DMU ?

Push-Pull ?

Bus, i.e. BRT

Freight moves on this line too (daytime), so I don't think Light Rail can co-exist here. I'd guess new RDC's. Also, BRT is being built New Britain to Hartford using part of the Amtrak ROW. I haven't seen anything from the communities that would have CommRail stations do anything to promote this, so this is probably just another funded study that will age in a drawer somewhere.

Amtrak is talking about ordering diesel multiple unit (DMU) cars to cover their existing "shuttle" schedules.
A state-sponsored rail commuter service has been proposed, somewhat surprising with the current bus mentality of the Connecticut Highway - er, I mean Transportation Dept. As the state has no DMU cars, this service would likely be push-pull equipment much like the current Shore Line East operation. But I'll believe it when I see it. The current consultant for this project is the same one who came out with the Bus Rapid Transit for the Hartford - New Britain route, and when doing this they ignored the fact that commuter rail could have run on existing trackage 2/3rd of the distance, Hartford-Newington, with just a few miles of track rebuilding needed Newington-New Britain. Also they ignored the fact that some of the rail equipment needed for the service could have come from surplus Shore Line East roster. The "minimum build" amount for the Hartford line commuter service is quite high, but may have been engineered this way to defeat rail proposals. The intelligent way to establish this service is to work with Amtrak to expand existing service slowly rather than to submit a multiple million dollar proposal that would scare the legislators away from the rail option.

Their will need to be a huge infusion of cash for them to operate this succesfully. First they have to put the second track back in with interlockings. They need parking at all of the stations. High Level platforms should be in place. They just purchased the VRE cars with no engines to move them. Now they need an additional 25+ cars and 8 or more engines. It will only happen if CDOT gets Fedearal money for the infastructure and it is not going to happen.

Yes, all that needs to be done is add more trains and more cars. Why have other train companies compete. The Springfield Line is a single track railroad just north of Ceder Hill Yd interchange, with a few long sidings.

I got a flyer in the mail that public meetings for SPG-NH Commuter rail are happening in various CT cities. It appears the studies include low-build, medium-build, and big-dig-build options. IIRC, low build includes no new trackage or stations. Medium build includes new passing sidings, and some station rehab. Large build includes serious double tracking and two new stations. Also, there are CT-only and a CT-MA (SPG) options in case MA DOT doesn't want to fund anything. All options project operating deficits. No surprise there. I'll edit this once I get home if I'm wrong on any points, but I pretty sure those are the options.

The Springfield Line is becoming like its own commuter service. More trains would do it. Also DMUs, keep in mind, if you want to add more stops, I would seriously consider getting DMUs. A GE pulling two cars is a big joke.

One sorry ass problem with DMU's is their nice when they are new, but when you run two car trains and have to maintain 3 engines under a car. The problems start to add fast. EPA won't like it when 3 engines are sitting there leaking on ground like the SPV's and RDC's did.
A genesis and two coaches only has one engine that could leak and its sitting over a 100 gallon retension tank for waste oil.
is mounted between the 4 x 550 Gallon fueltanks.

Well, they don't have to do it all at once. The nice about this line is that
they can do it incrementally; put one or two more trains on, then add a
passing siding or two, then add one or two stations, then add another
train or two, and so forth. A gradual, not too costly, service increase.
And they could keep Amtrak running it too, with nice Amtrak coaches, maybe putting on commuter rail coaches for high volume times. That
would be the way to do it.

There are several places where double track can be put back into operation...in fact, the long sidings are good in that respect. One example is Springfield to Hartford. SPG to Enfield is double track, with 4 miles? of single track between Enfield and Windsor. Then from Windsor to Hartford and you have a good segment. Doing bits at a time would be helpful, although the entire line would be ideal.

The second problem, are some stations are inaccessable on the other side of the track, and some would need need to be rebuilt to allow passengers to track 2.

I did hear on the news last week that they were considering double tracking the entire line from Springfield to New Haven. But, then again, how many times does the news really get things right, especially in the rail arena...

-Tom

A saw some of the plans the other day. The WL station would have an overhead acess to track 2. At least on paper, the plans are looking pretty good.

When I first moved into the area in 1989, I remember the line being double tracked....granted track 2 wasn't in that great of shape, but they didn't have the traffic on it as they do now.

The 2nd half of the CT River bridge should be repaired next year. Track 2 side was finished over the summer, and the will be moving the main line to that side of the bridge to repair the track 1 side.

I now have been to one of the second round of public meetings concerning commuter service on the Hartford Line. While the consultants seem to have made quite a bit progress in blending new service in with existing Amtrak runs - cross honoring of tickets being the major point, they still are presenting very pricey alternatives, even with their "minimum build" plan. While I am not an advocate of lengthy, costly studies I do think that a new examinination of incorporating a New Britain-Hartford rail service into this general plan is due, in place of the proposed busway.
When this line was single-tracked, it was about the 3rd or 4th attempt at doing this. While going through records at the former Hartford Trainmaster's office, I found two New Haven RR era proposals - IIRC the years were 1959 and 1967. I Also remember hearing of a Penn Central era proposal to single the line just between Hartford and New Haven, this being around 1970. At any rate, the Amtrak proposal was decided by the late 1980s, and the first trask was to replaced all the stick rail with welded where the track would exist after implementation. This was mainly track 1 (the southbound main). When welded rail began to be installed on track 2, we knew where the passing sidings would be.
One big project not mentioned in much detail in these studies is the rebuilding of the Hartford Station viaduct. When the current Hartford Union Station was built c 1887 (the 1914 date on the building is due to an extensive rebuilding following a fire), a steel trestle carrying four tracks was built to carry the line above street level. Locomotives at the time weighed about 80 tons. Today they weigh over 150 tons, and although the viaduct had been stregnthened a few times over the years, it really needs an extensive rebuild, like many of the bridges of the early 1900s. And it should be rebuilt with the strength needed to fully use the 4 tracks that the structure originally held.
Before the viaduct was reduced to a single track restrictions had been placed on the bridge to prevent more than one train at a time from occupying it. Another problem is that during the 1986-87 rebulding of the station, a building was constructed under the viaduct to house railroad and intercity bus facilities and this building would have to be removed to allow any kind of thorough rebuilding.