by njtmnrrbuff
I rode the service on the first official day as far as Meriden and I must say that overall, I thought that it was decent but there is room for improvement. What I liked was the concept of adding more rail service to Central Connecticut because there are many people that live and work in many of the communities along the SPG Line, especially Hartford, Springfield, and New Haven. There are many universities within easy reach of the train line. The new stations are beautiful. The ride is fast as well.
What I want to see improved is many things. The equipment is outdated. It rides bumpy, the bathrooms aren't available basically. The equipment needs to be clean. It sounds like the State of Connecticut has issues with managing money and if they weren't broke, than they could have bought brand new equipment which they should have done. Any trips that I need to take on the SPG Line for the next few years, I will probably use Amtrak.
There needs to be more double track along the SPG Line. I know that much of it is probably a few years off but certain stretches of double track should have been implemented before the service began. For example, Hartford Station should have had the second track since that is probably one of the busiest stations along the route. In fact, probably many of your 9 to 5 commuters will be using Ctrail to get to their jobs in Hartford.
What I want to see improved is many things. The equipment is outdated. It rides bumpy, the bathrooms aren't available basically. The equipment needs to be clean. It sounds like the State of Connecticut has issues with managing money and if they weren't broke, than they could have bought brand new equipment which they should have done. Any trips that I need to take on the SPG Line for the next few years, I will probably use Amtrak.
There needs to be more double track along the SPG Line. I know that much of it is probably a few years off but certain stretches of double track should have been implemented before the service began. For example, Hartford Station should have had the second track since that is probably one of the busiest stations along the route. In fact, probably many of your 9 to 5 commuters will be using Ctrail to get to their jobs in Hartford.