Pittsfield To Danbury—

Railroad Explores Providing Passenger Service

By Andrew Gorosko

Encouraged by the results of a marketing study that was performed for it to gauge the viability of providing privately operated rail passenger service on the tracks lying between Danbury and Pittsfield, Mass., the Housatonic Railroad Company is doing some groundwork in seeking to create such a rail passenger transit system.

In Danbury, Housatonic’s rail line connects with Metro North into New York City, and Housatonic also has the capacity to connect with Metro North in Brewster, N.Y.

John Hanlon, Housatonic’s president, in a letter to government officials and regional planners, wrote that the marketing study performed by Market Street Research of Northampton, Mass., indicates that there would be a ridership base in western Connecticut and western Massachusetts that would support such rail passenger service. Housatonic now operates freight trains on its tracks.

“It would appear that a combination of public/private investment could create a service that requires little or no operating subsidy,” Mr Hanlon said in a statement.

The proposed passenger service would connect to cities and towns in western Connecticut between Danbury and North Canaan, and would extend northward to Pittsfield through Berkshire County. Such rail service would provide transportation for commuters, tourists, students, and people who own second homes, according to the railroad.

Colin Pease, Housatonic’s vice president for special projects, said September 21 that the marketing study indicates a statistical ridership base of two million one-way rail passengers annually. That figure derives from the estimated one million people who travel to and from the Berkshires annually by various means of transportation.

The marketing study estimates that somewhere between 5,300 and 8,000 one-way rail passenger tickets might be sold daily during the summertime, which would be the season of heaviest use for the passenger rail service. 

The railroad’s proximity to the large New York City market is the factor that would make its proposed passenger rail system workable, according to Mr Pease.

The marketing study found that, “There is interest among residents in New York City and northwestern Connecticut, and Berkshire County, Massachusetts, in a train that would travel between these areas.” Also, the marketing firm stresses that rail passenger service must be “reliable and convenient” to be viable.

The Housatonic Railroad has a 13-acre rail freight yard in Hawleyville where it receives shipments of building materials by rail for temporary storage and later reshipment by truck. Heavy trucks also bring solid waste to the rail yard for where it is transferred to railcars for shipment for disposal at out-of-state landfills.

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is reviewing the railroad’s controversial pending proposal to expand its solid waste handling operations in Hawleyville.

Mr Pease said Housatonic’s proposal to create rail passenger service would not involve passenger service on the Maybrook Line thath runs through Hawleyville. The Maybrook Line, which is a freight line, links Danbury to Derby.

Passenger service would be provided on the north-south rail line extending between Danbury and Pittsfield, which is known as the Berkshire Line, Mr Pease said.

Mr Pease said that Housatonic is studying the feasibility of creating one or two passenger stations for its proposed passenger service in Danbury, which would be easily accessible to Newtown residents traveling westward to Danbury on Interstate 84.

Such passenger stations and related parking areas could be built in Danbury in the Federal Road area and/or the Mill Plain Road area, he said. Such facilities would have to provide easy access to rail patrons so that they would be inclined to use them for rail travel rather than driving to Brewster, N.Y, where they would otherwise board the Harlem Line of Metro North, he said.

Also, Mr Pease suggested that Newtowners could drive to Brookfield to board passenger trains there.

$200 Million Investment

Mr Pease said that Housatonic envisions a public/private venture of about $200 million to create the rail passenger service system in western Connecticut and western Massachusetts. The 37-mile length of track lying between New Milford and the Massachusetts border is state-owned and would need to be improved by the state in order to make a rail passenger system workable, Mr Pease said.

Improved track would need to be installed to make passenger service possible, he said, noting that passenger trains travel at higher speeds than freight trains. While freight rains typically run 20 to 25 miles per hour, passenger trains would operate at 50 to 55 miles per hour, he said. Such higher speeds would require improved tracks, he said.

Passenger stations with elevated platforms would need to be created in Connecticut municipalities including Danbury, Brookfield, New Milford, Kent, Cornwall, and Canaan, he said. In Connecticut and Massachusetts, there would be about a dozen passenger stations overall on the line, he said.

Housatonic has informed the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) about the results of its rail marketing study and is awaiting a response, Mr Pease said.

Asked about the viability of Housatonic’s proposal to create rail passenger service, Jonathan Chew, the executive director of the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO), noted that the state DOT is studying the feasibility of extending rail passenger service northward to New Milford.

“Why rule anything out?” Mr Chew observed concerning Housatonic’s interest in creating rail passenger service.

The HVCEO is a ten-town regional transportation planning agency to which Newtown belongs.

Armed with the data in the rail passenger marketing study, Housatonic will now formulate passenger revenue estimates, as well as the capital improvement program that would be needed to provide passenger service, Mr Pease said.

Mr Pease said he expects that Berkshire Line passenger service would involve a financial partnership among the railroad, the two state governments, and the municipalities which would be provided with service.

Housatonic would seek to provide “good passenger service,” he said, adding that the rail line’s prime competition would be automobile travel. A rail passenger service would offer fares at prices lower than comparable coach bus transportation, he said.

“I think the prospects are very, very good,” Mr Pease said, adding that he is heartened by the results of the marketing study.