The Connecticut Department of Transportation has completed 80 percent of the overhead power line work on the New Haven commuter rail line, enabling Metro-North to open all four tracks on the seven-mile stretch between Southport and Bridgeport for the first time since 2010.
The replacement of the current catenary wires along the 107-year-old rail line has caused two of the four tracks to be shut down throughout the four-year construction process. One of the lines opened April 26, and the other is expected to open at the end of this month.
The catenary work is part of a $386.5 million project designed to replace the original system first erected in 1907 that is subject to sagging and contraction due to changes in temperature.
Once all the catenary work is completed on the entire New Haven line by 2017, DOT will begin work rehabilitating the bridges along the track.
