HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont wants to reduce Metro-North travel times to and from New York by up to 15 minutes, part of a $5 billion plan to upgrade commuter rail service in the state, the Hartford Courant reports.
The commuter-rail plan is part of a larger transportation package, yet to be unveiled, which would spend more than $18 billion on everything from measures to reduce traffic congestions to improving regional airports.
A spokesman for the governor said that the rail proposal will include rebuilding Metro-North’s route between Greenwich and New Haven, Conn., eliminating curves to reduce travel time.
“The fact that it takes 10, 15 minutes longer to take that train [to New York] than it did a generation ago is a real killer,” Lamont told retailers in a Wednesday meeting in Hartford.
The full package would include the purchase of 100 new railcars for use on the Metro North, Shore Line East, and Hartford lines, as well as other upgrades on the latter two lines. He envisions upgrades of the Metro North’s Waterbury branch that would allow through service to New York; that branch is currently the only one requiring passengers to change trains.
