The AP reports today that ridership on the Shore Line East commuter rail line, which stops at the new State Street Station as well as Union Station in Downtown New Haven, was up 5.5 percent last year. The DOT credits an expanded weekend schedule and rail car improvements for the increase. The service normally operates on weekdays only, but was expanded this year to include weekends during the holiday shopping season.
Given the success of the weekend stops and the rapidly-rising costs of driving, should the schedule be expanded to include weekends throughout the year?
Update 4/19/08: Ridership is up 8.8% in the first part of the year and Metro North ridership is also way up. See http://blog.tstc.org/2008/04/14/connecticut-metro-north-and-shore-line-east-ridership-up/
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Shore Line East ridership up 5.5%, Update: Metro North ridership skyrocketing as well
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3 comments:
Sounds good. But how about a commuter train to Hartford too? Has the state entirely forgotten about that promise?
Anonymous, I believe that the current DOT schedule still shows New Haven-Springfield service up and running by 2010. The state is making a significant investment in the program. Visit http://blog.tstc.org/2008/02/05/frankel-maps-conndot-progress-on-smart-growth-transit-efforts/ for a recent news update, for example.
I attempted to ride SLE on a business trip to Yale about a week ago. I was not impressed. I grew up in Branford and tried to take the 8:24 train from there. I got there to find that several people waiting had wanted the earlier train which never came. About 10 min after the train was supposed to arrive, they announced we would be taking Amtrak, which would make all the stops. 20 min later, the Amtrak train showed up. Double checking that they were stopping at State St., I was assured it would happen. Going by the State St. station, they said that Metro-North put them on a different track and we would have to get off at Union Station (more than doubling my walk). On the trip back to Branford, I arrived at State St about 5 min too late, but a guy sitting there said he was there shortly before the train was supposed to leave and it never showed up. Luckily, the next one was on time and I made it back to Branford. Next time, I think I'll drive to New Haven.
I had written SLE several years ago to suggest they increase their trains so people coming from New Haven suburbs can use them as a better way to go into New Haven for fun or to switch to Metro-North and head to NYC for a night in the city. They didn't like that idea and wanted to stay with going into New Haven in the morning and out of New Haven in the afternoon.
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