WALLINGFORD– On Monday afternoon, Governor Dannel P. Malloy, along with Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker, announced the company operating trains on the New Haven – Springfield. line.
Service will be a joint venture of TransitAmerica Services and Alternate Concepts . The company will operate and manage service on the CTrail Hartford Line. Service will begin in May 2018.
The project costs is expected to cost about $770 million and long-term plans are to build more stations in North Haven, Newington, West Hartford and Enfield. This would require an extra $378 million.
Trains will run every 45 minutes during morning and evening peak hours, and every 90 minutes off-peak.
Trains will stop in New Haven, Wallingford, Meriden, Berlin, Hartford, Windsor, Windsor Locks and Springfield.
Fare prices have yet to be determined, but are expected to be the same as Amtrak.
The Berlin station is expected to open this winter.
“Launching in May of 2018 will allow the Department of Transportation to complete construction of an additional four miles of double tracking between Hartford and Windsor,” said Gov. Malloy. “A January 2018 launch would have entailed significant service disruptions on the new line due to that ongoing construction.”
“It is incredible how much work has taken place to completely rebuild the track bed, put in new track, build new stations, fix all the bridges, fix the culverts and create a really world-class, high-speed railroad,” said DOT Commissioner James Redeker.
Right now, the tracks along the Hartford line are being used by Amtrak.
Construction in Wallingford should be finished sometime this month, the one in Meriden should be done by mid August.
This new passenger rail line will connect New Haven to Springfield, Massachusetts.
