Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Shoreline East Rail topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DOT: Shoreline East funding extended; department tracking ridership and testing through-train service
Summary
The Department of Transportation told the Appropriations Committee $5 million in ARPA funds extends Shoreline East service through October and the governor's budget continues funding in the biennium. DOT staff said two new through-trains represent roughly 30% of Shoreline East ridership and the agency is collecting manual boarding data to better
The Department of Transportation told the Appropriations Committee that COVID-era funding and recent schedule changes have kept Shoreline East service running while the agency monitors ridership.
A DOT official said a $5,000,000 ARPA allocation extends service through October because Amtrak and contractor onboarding delayed the start; the governor's biennial budget continues support beyond that date. "It's a little bit more than a year, because it started a little bit later...continuing us through October," the official said.
DOT staff described ridership trends: 2014 Shoreline East ridership was about 930,000 annual riders; during the COVID period in 2020–21 ridership dropped to roughly 121,000. The agency reported that the two recently added through-trains now account for "around 30 a little over 30% of all Shoreline East ridership." Because many riders board in New Haven and continue to Stamford, the department said it is conducting manual onboard counts to determine how many trips actually originate in Shoreline East territory versus riders continuing through on the same train.
DOT said it is not proposing expansion beyond the current restored service but seeks schedule stability so riders can build predictable routines. "If we continue stability there, people know the service is gonna be there for a few years. Hopefully, that is providing them with reliability they need to come back to the service," the secretary said.
Why it matters: restoring reliable schedules is the department's stated strategy to attract riders back after disruptions from major construction projects and the pandemic. The committee requested more granular ridership and run-frequency data for follow-up meetings.
DOT staff also noted they added direct-through service to Stamford to reduce transfers at New Haven and to better match riders' travel patterns.
