Conn. governor’s $21B transportation plan includes improvements to Metro-North Railroad

Rail agencies express congratulations to President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris

Going from 80 to 50 to 14 might be the right sequence for Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont. When Lamont first unveiled his transportation plan, he wanted to go overboard on tolling, which did not sit well with the state legislature. On Nov. 7 the governor called for 14 tolls that would help fund a 10-year, $21 billion transportation spending proposal, with $4 billion going towards improvements for the Metro-North Railroad.

Lamont wants to cut the rail travel time from New Haven to Manhattan by 30 minutes. To do that $2.25 billion will be used to replace the aging bridges on the New Haven line, which are traffic chokepoints. New rail cars, at a cost of $1 billion, will help reach speeds of 110 mph.

Low-interest federal loans and the 14 toll locations will be used to help finance the plan. State lawmakers will now vote on the measure, but that might not happen until they return to the state Capitol in February.

For the latest news, go to www.rtands.com.

For more news on passenger rail, click here.