Following last week’s announcement from the state about an approved $4 million Danbury Branch Line rail dockyard project, we asked Wilton’s state representative Gail Lavielle (R-143) to give us her thoughts.

The state Department of Transportation has provided important clarification on the impact of the Danbury Branch Line dockyard project that has just received state Bond Commission approval for $4 million in bond funding. The work on the dockyard area isn’t designed specifically to upgrade the branch line, but rather has two main objectives:  to prevent interruption of Danbury Line service during the repair of the Walk Bridge in Norwalk; and to provide long-term service improvements on the main New Haven Line.

A statement from Gov. Malloy’s office after last week’s Bond Commission meeting sounded more encouraging. It said that the “design, engineering, and construction of a new dockyard on the Danbury Branch Rail Line in Norwalk will allow the state to increase capacity and service on the Danbury Line.” Because I received a number of inquiries about what the project would actually do and how it would accomplish its objectives, I contacted the DOT.

Here is a summary of the answers provided by staff and engineering and construction bureau chief Tom Harley:

  • An urgent need for the project arose because of the repair work already being done on the Walk Bridge in Norwalk. Main line trains reverse onto the bridge when they turn around, and they won’t be able to continue doing this during the bridge repairs. The dockyard project will create new sidings and electrify a very short stretch (less than ½ mile) of the Danbury Line so that main line trains can use the branch line instead of the bridge to turn around. This is meant to prevent blockages in that area of the main line and allow service on both the main line and the branch to continue smoothly during the bridge repair work.
  • After the repairs, direct impact on service improvement will be primarily to the main line, until such time as a significant portion of the Danbury Line is electrified. The long-term benefit will be minimizing blockage of main line tracks by main line or branch line trains.
  • The project requires additional funds on top of the $4 million approved by the Bond Commission, and the DOT is now applying for a federal discretionary grant.

Last month, the legislature authorized $2.8 billion in bond funding to cover the projects in the 5-year “ramp-up” to Governor Malloy’s 30-year “Let’s Go, CT!” transportation plan. The dockyard project is one of 31 projects listed in the “ramp-up.”

The project is certainly essential for Danbury Line passengers. Without it, they would experience even more service problems over the next 2-3 years than they do now. The good news is that the dockyard work is part of the first group of ramp-up projects to be approved by the Bond Commission.

The more sobering news, however, is that apart from a set of physical improvements to the Merritt 7 Station, the dockyard is the only project in the “ramp-up” that references the Danbury Line. For at least the next five years, no progress on electrification, the essential next step for improving speed and frequency on the branch, is planned and no funding has been authorized. So the dockyard project doesn’t appear to be the long-awaited harbinger of a new focus on improving the Danbury Line.

As I insisted most recently in testimony on the ramp-up plan before the legislature’s Finance Committee in April, the lack of urgency in upgrading this artery through one of the state’s most economically active areas is unacceptable. Danbury Line commuters, who often tell me they feel like hostages to a railroad that doesn’t work, should not have to wait five years for real improvement. It’s a question of priorities:  we must fix what we have, and what is already being used, before we build anything new.

Two things are certain. We must continue to insist on clarity and transparency at all times, particularly regarding decisions that affect thousands of people every day. And we must keep the pressure on for fast and significant upgrades to the Danbury Line.