The following email was distributed by Jim Gildea, chairman of the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council.
Fellow Waterbury Branch Commuter,
As you may have heard, the State Department of Transportation is looking to raise rail fares along the New Haven line by 5 percent in order to meet cuts in funding of $19 million dollars in road and bridge programs and $18 million of cuts in public transportation programs.
This is in addition to the previously approved 1 percent fare annual fare hike that is in place to help fund the M8 purchase.
As the Waterbury Branch is part of the New Haven line, this fare increase will affect us all.
As part of this this fare hike, the State Department of Transportation will be conducting public hearings along the line.
On Sept. 13, 2016, there will be a public hearing for comments at the Silas Bronson Library Waterbury (which is across the street from the Waterbury Train Station).
The current time is from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
However, in order to accommodate commuters who take the 1948 (connecting from the 1548) that is scheduled to get to Waterbury at 6:59 p.m., the state Department of Transportation has agreed to extend the hearing until 7:20 p.m. and stay until all speakers have an opportunity to be heard.
For those who can’t make the hearing but wish to be heard, you can share your comments electronically.
Here is a link that has the information necessary to do so: http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?a=1386&q=442328
We have heard from many Waterbury Branch Commuters who are opposed to this fare hike.
The overriding sentiment expressed is that based upon the lack of scheduling coupled with overall poor service and communication that the commuters of the Waterbury Branch feel it is not reasonable to expect us to pay additional money to ride the line.
If this is how you feel, you can also sign an online petition that will be forwarded to the state Department of Transportation. The link to the petition is: https://t.co/F68nVXFLIe
It would be great for as many commuters as possible to show up at the hearing on Sept. 13, but if you can’t make it, please be sure your voice is heard.
As always, we appreciate all the commuters who reach out and push to improve service on the Branch.
You can follow us on Twitter for continued updates: https://twitter.com/Waterburyline.
