By Mary E. O’Leary, Register Topics Editor

Connecticut will receive almost all the funds it had requested to install double tracking for a high-speed rail line between New Haven and Springfield, Mass.

The White House today announced that Connecticut will get $40 million in federal stimulus funds to install 10 miles of double tracks between New Britain and Newington; the state has already committed $26 million toward the project.

Connecticut had applied in fall for a share of the $8 billion President Barack Obama set aside for high-speed rail targeted to 10 corridors across the country.

As part of the first phase, the state had requested $41 million for the 10 miles where freight trains from the Pan Am line come in. Double tracking there is expected to help reduce rail congestion, according to state officials.

“This is a major investment in Connecticut’s future,” said U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn. “After years of delay, the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield rail line is finally getting the funding it needs to move forward. We’re on a track towards better, faster, more reliable rail service connecting our state with New York, Massachusetts and the rest of the region.”

The state’s bonded funds will go toward design, environmental documentation and construction. The project envisions stops at 13 towns in Connecticut, as well as connections to buses and Bradley Internatinal Airport.

The current rail line to Springfield carries Amtrak passenger trains and freight trains, but double tracking is necessary to make a commuter service work.

The project is expected to promote economic development along the corridor, with four or five stations added to the existing eight. Trains would run every 30 minutes during peak times.

Thirty miles of the 62-mile line need to be doubled to support the project.

The state already has the right-of-way to the land needed for double tracking and is essentially replacing tracks that had been removed before the new emphasis on mass transit projects. Continued...

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The state had requested a total of $64.2 million in stimulus funds for rail projects, with the rest split among signal upgrades on Metro-North, work on Shore Line East, additional track between New Haven and Milford and design and environmental for the rest of the double tracking.

Contact Mary E. O’Leary at 203-789-5731 or moleary@newhavenregister.com.

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