If Jeff Sullivan misses his train at the Ansonia station, it will be at least two hours until another train comes along the tracks.
That delays Sullivan’s job search — and throws him into the commuter purgatory that is the Valley section of the Metro-North Waterbury line.
“Right now it’s an average wait of a couple of hours for the next train,” Sullivan said, standing on the platform at about noon on June 29.
The Valley Council of Governments is pushing for changes to the Waterbury line that could — over the next 10 years, if all goes as planned — more than double the number of trains that pass through the Valley.
The changes include more tracks along the route, installing a new train signal communications system and — possibly — a new station in the Devon section of Milford.
The changes, if they happen, would give Sullivan and other commuters more opportunities to ride trains from Waterbury through the Valley to Bridgeport, New Haven and New York City.
Area planning officials hope the potential increase in service will spark economic development in the area and relieve traffic congestion on Route 8.
“People don’t want to give up their cars to take the train because they can’t be certain they’ll get home,” said Rick Dunne, the executive director for Valley Council of Governments.
Last month, the Greater Bridgeport and Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization — of which the Valley COG is a member — released a resolution asking the state to immediately add routes to the Waterbury line and to get money to improve the tracks over the next decade so more trains can run in the future.
The long-term goal is to make major improvements to the tracks so that the number of routes can be increased dramatically.
But Dunne said there’s nothing to stop Metro-North from adding a few more trains on the Waterbury line much sooner.
Dunne said it would cost more money, but the tracks allow for at least one more evening rush hour train.
Story continues after the resolution.
Problems
The Waterbury Metro-North train line runs from Waterbury along the Naugatuck River to Derby, and then down to Bridgeport.
Six trains run south each day. And six trains return north to Waterbury each day.
There is only one set of tracks — so only one train can travel the route at a time.
The process means longer wait times between trains.
And, Dunne said, there is only one evening rush hour train, which leaves Bridgeport at about 6 p.m. The next train out of Bridgeport to the Waterbury line comes through at 8:24 p.m., according to MTA schedules.
For a commuter waiting at the Bridgeport platform after work, that means a potential two and a half hour wait if they miss the train, Dunne said.
“If you take the train, and your boss says you need to stay 15 minutes late, you could be stuck on the platform until a quarter to nine,” Dunne said.
Some Improvements
Metro-North recently added one extra morning rush-hour train, Dunne said.
In the months after the new run was added, Dunne said he has seen a huge increase in riders.
He watches them park at the Derby Train Station — where the Valley Council of Governments office is located.
“My parking lot went from 20 cars a day to 90 cars a day,” Dunne said.
Dunne said the increase proves that improvements to the route will translate to more riders.
“We have a valuable piece of infrastructure in the Waterbury line,” said David Elder, Valley COG’s director of planning. “It’s a valuable piece of infrastructure that is underutilized for lack of upkeep.”
A Plan
Valley COG has plans to improve the service in the Valley. They just need time, money and state support to do it.
The first step will be to add communication systems along the rails, so Grand Central Station can monitor the trains remotely, instead of through radio communications, Dunne said. Those improvements are required by federal safety guidelines, and should be implemented by 2015, he said.
Then, in the next two years, the Valley COG hopes to get funding for an environmental study along the tracks. The study — estimated at $2.5 million — is needed because the train runs along sensitive environmental areas such as the Naugatuck River.
If that project is funded and completed, the next step would be to try to get money to pay for extra tracks along the route.
The actual construction of the passing sidings would cost perhaps $25 million, according to the plan.
In the long term, Valley COG hopes to eventually build a new station in the Devon section of Milford, where riders could switch onto New Haven-bound trains. Right now, riders must go through Bridgeport to get to New Haven from the Waterbury line.
They hope to secure federal and state money for the projects.
Hopes and Dreams
Valley economic development directors said they hoped to see the rail improvements brought to fruition because it could help bring more business to the Valley.
“It will be a huge difference for us,” said Derby’s economic development director Sheila O’Malley. “It just draws more people, and makes for ease and efficiency, and increases the train ridership. We think that’s a big plus all around. It creates more incentive to take the train.”
In Ansonia, the train improvements could help the downtown attract more development and housing, said Claude Perry, the city’s economic development director.
“It would hopefully attract people to come into the area, and liven up our downtown,” Perry said.
He pointed out how people could live in the downtown hub, near the train station, and commute to jobs down the train line in cities like Bridgeport, Norwalk, Westport and Stamford. New York City is also down the line.
“If you can find market rate rent, you can stay, and you’re living across the street from the train station,” Perry said.
