Improvements are coming to the terrible train service to the Naugatuck Valley, Gov. Dannel Malloy announced Wednesday during his “state of the state” address on the opening day of the legislative session.
What specific form those improvements will take?
Wait til February and we’ll let you know, the guv’s office says.
The Waterbury line is transportation of last resort — slow, decrepit, and unreliable — as commuters forced to use it often tell railroad brass.
Local officials also bemoan the infrequent service as a major hindrance to spurring economic development in the area.
Apparently, the complaints have filtered up to Malloy.
The governor made transportation improvements the central theme of his address to state legislators Wednesday, and though the speech was short on specifics, he did drop a reference to the Valley’s trains — or lack thereof.
“We should ensure that our efforts are comprehensive in their size, their scope, and their geography,” Malloy said. “That means widening I‑95 statewide and fixing its entrance and exit ramps. It means building new rail stations and upgrading our branch lines to provide real commuter rail service, including the Naugatuck Valley.”
But what precise form the upgrades will take will remain to be seen for at least a few more weeks.
“Further details on the governor’s transportation proposals will be announced in the coming weeks leading up to his budget presentation in the middle of February,” David Bednarz, a Malloy spokesman, said in an email Thursday.
According to Metro-North Railroad, weekend ridership has already increased on the Waterbury line since two trains were added to the branch’s weekend schedule in November.
Marjorie Anders, a Metro-North spokeswoman, said Thursday that those new trains — an 11:36 p.m. from Bridgeport to Waterbury, and a 10:10 p.m. from Waterbury to Bridgeport — carry about 60 and 20 passengers, respectively, each night they run.
Anders said Metro-North expects those numbers to increase “as people become more aware of the possibilities it presents.”
Ridership on the branch overall is still low — just under 1,000 riders per day on weekdays in 2013. The figures for 2014 haven’t yet been tabulated, Anders said.
Jim Gildea, a Derby resident and vice chairman of the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council, said the numbers show more people will use the Waterbury line — if the trains run frequently and consistently.
He cited numbers from Metro-North showing an “on-time percentage” of only 89.2 percent for trains on the Waterbury line in November, the last month for which statistics were available.
And on 10 occasions, trains were replaced by bus service.
Those numbers have to get better for people to buy into taking the train regularly, he said.
As for the governor’s planned announcement next month, Gildea guessed that Malloy will flesh out more details of a signalization system for the Waterbury line.
The state bonding commission approved allocating $7 million to pay for the design last summer.
He said those plans call for added “sidings” — essentially a new section of track parallel to the main line that would allow for trains moving in opposite directions to pass each other — at local rail stations.
That would mean more trains moving up and down the line.
“That would really be huge,” Gildea said. “What this would do would in essence create a second set of railroad tracks in the Derby area.”
The potential improvements will be a subject of discussion at a “commuter forum” the council has scheduled for Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Naugatuck train station, 195 Water St.
Gildea said commuters at the meeting, which will be attended by Metro-North officials, will also suggest improvements to the train schedule in order to build ridership.
(UPDATE: On Friday morning (Jan. 9), Metro-North officials said they are unable to attend the Jan. 13 forum)
(UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Metro-North officials said Friday afternoon they WILL be at the Jan. 13 forum)
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State Rep. Linda Gentile, who represents Derby and Ansonia, said Thursday she’ll be anxious to hear the details of the governor’s plans.
“At this point it’s really too soon to tell,” Gentile, who was named Deputy House Speaker last month, said. “Certainly it’s nice to know that the governor has the Waterbury Line on his radar, but there’s been no specifics released, and it’s very, very early in the process.”
Gentile said she’d withhold judgement until the specifics of Malloy’s plan are announced, but said some sort of action is needed to encourage people to use trains more.
“We’ve got to do something to eliminate some of the congestion on our highways, and I think rail is the perfect example of how to do that,” she said.
A spokesman for state Rep. Themis Klarides, a Derby Republican just elected minority leader of the state House of Representatives, said she’s anxious to hear more about Malloy’s transportation plans, too — including how he plans to pay for them.
“As of yet we have no details and I’m not sure when they’re going to be coming with respect to any specific issue that he mentioned,” the spokesman, Patrick O’Neil, said.
Click here for a story by the CT Mirror about the transportation funding debate.
