Commuter trains on tap for major improvements

Written by Ken Borsuk
Friday, 30 October 2009 17:02

A $5.35 million upgrade for the power system used by commuter trains is expected to gain approval next week by the state’s Bond Commission.

Gov. M. Jodi made the announcement at the Cos Cob Train Station, which will be the center of the planned improvements.

According to state Department of Transportation Commissioner Joseph Marie, the project’s main focus will be on upgrading a substation in Cos Cob that provides power to the portion of the Metro North New Haven rail line running from Greenwich to Harrison, N.Y.

The New Haven Rail line trains, operated by Metro-North, are powered by overhead wires supplied by a series of substations along the route.

“This will allow us to add more train capacity on the line,” Marie said. “There’s a nominal line voltage we need to run the trains, and this is a very old substation. We need to improve the outage capacity on this substation because instead of running eight to 10 car trains, we’re going to run 10 to 12 car trains. We’re going to be adding 20% additional seats on the rail line, and to do that we need to have a higher level of voltage on the system.”

The work on the substation is expected to be done in two phases with the design set to be done over the winter months this year. Construction will be the second phase, and that is tentatively scheduled for next year with an eye on being completed in 2012.

Marie said that the work, along with upgrading tracks, station renovations and adding new trains, is part of Rell’s overall initiative to encourage more people to take the trains to get places. A portion of the new cars are set to be shipped from Japan on Oct. 28 so they can be tested.

Once the testing is done to the state’s satisfaction, 10 cars a month are expected to be shipped until the 300-car order that was placed in 2005 is filled.

When asked about potential fare increases, Marie said he had been instructed by the governor to find any cuts he could to avoid increasing fares. Although the state would eventually have to figure out how to pay for the new cars, he said it is “unlikely” we would see any fare increases “in the near future.”

Rell said people might not often think about substations, but they are a critical component of the New Haven Metro-North line, where more than 36.3 million passenger trips are taken a year.

“This may not sound like one of those glamorous projects, and it’s not something you can readily see, but it is so important,” Rell said. “No one really notices a power station or a power grid until it breaks down, and believe me, I can tell you when it doesn’t work it can bring the entire system to a standstill.”

Rell said the New Haven line is one of the busiest in the country, making clean, new cars and convenient reliable service equally important.

“If we want to get more people out of their cars and riding in our trains, then we have to make it reliable and of course upgrading the system will help us do that,” she said.

The state Bond Commission is set to meet Oct. 29 to discuss paying for the upgrade. Rell said she expects the money will be approved.

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