As discussed in the Waterbury Line thread, the Connecticut State Bond Commission approved the $300 million in bonds for new CDOT railcars today - except that 60 cars will be purchased, for Shore Line East and the Hartford Line only. State budget director Melissa McCaw said that the
description that 72 cars would be purchased for Waterbury, Danbury, Hartford and Shore Line East (see page 21) was a "mistake".
Here's an article about it:
https://www.rep-am.com/local/capitol-re ... ury-lines/
...
The State Bond Commission voted Thursday to approve a bond allocation for $300 million to finance the purchase that had initially included the Waterbury and Danbury lines.
Before the vote, Melissa McCaw, the state budget director, reported that the 60 new cars are being purchased for only the Shore Line East and the Hartford Line.
She said the Waterbury and Danbury lines were included in error on two bond commission agendas, and the agendas also incorrectly stated that 72 replacement cars would be purchased.
But if you'd rather hear it straight from the horse's mouth, here's the video link to today's State Bond Commission meeting:
http://ct-n.com/ctnplayer.asp?odID=17312 The railcar order is discussed from 34:20 to 47:50.
When questioned, McCaw and CDOT Commissioner Giulietti stated that the order is 60 cars only because of limited transportation funding available, and that the Hartford Line and Shore Line East were the highest priorities for new railcars, due to the Hartford Line's leased railcars needing to be returned to Massachusetts, and Shore Line East's "significantly antiquated" fleet. Giulietti repeated that the New Haven Line needs M8s so much that there are none left for SLE. He did say that the Waterbury and Danbury Branches could get new cars from an option order down the line, and didn't mention anything about a future MTA order for new railcars.
On a related note, the CT Rail Commuter Council had a meeting last night which is where the news about the "mistake" first broke. The
agenda for the meeting focused mostly on SLE, including discussion on the M8s, but we'll have to wait until the Council posts the meeting minutes for details.