More than a million people have traveled on the 62-mile Hartford Line commuter rail since its debut in June 2018, a milestone state officials say exceeds expectations.
Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday morning announced that ridership on the $769 million Hartford Line, which carries riders to destinations between New Haven, Hartford and Springfield, has grown year-over-year at a rate of 25 percent.
That puts the Hartford Line on track to exceed 750,000 passenger trips durings its second year of operation, outpacing the 666,960 trips originally forecasted by the state Department of Transportation (DOT), Lamont said.
Through December, the Hartford Line has transported 1,075,559 riders, or an average of roughly 60,000 passengers a month, state officials say.
DOT Commissioner Joseph Giulietti in a statement Thursday credited the rail service’s success, in part, to scheduling and customer service provided by the two rail providers, Amtrak and Transit America Services Inc.
“We’ve been breaking ridership records since opening weekend,” Giulietti said. “The Hartford Line helps both the Connecticut economy by creating jobs and spurring transit-oriented development, while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion on our highways.”
Lamont said growing demand for the rail service shows the state should ramp-up its investments in public transit through his proposed 10-year, $19 billion transportation plan dubbed CT2030. The revised proposal, expected to be made public Tuesday, calls for improving Connecticut’s roads, trains, buses, airports and ports in addition to creating new revenues through establishing highway tolls on tractor trailers at a dozen highway bridges.
According to Lamont, CT2030 calls for adding a second line of Hartford Line rail tracks in the North End of the Capital City; adding new train stations in Enfield and Windsor Locks; and adding new digital displays at each Hartford Line station to provide passengers real-time information regarding train times and destinations.
“Increased transportation options create new opportunities for economic growth, and the development that is occurring up and down the Hartford Line is a perfect example,” Lamont said in a statement. “We cannot stop here – this is case in point for accelerating transportation investments across the state.”
