Courtney touts federal funds for Hartford Line study on transit-oriented development in Enfield

Norwich, CT – Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-2), Governor Dannel Malloy, and the Connecticut congressional delegation today announced that the State of Connecticut has been awarded $700,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration to conduct a study of transit-oriented development (TOD) opportunities in the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield (NHHS) rail corridor, also known as the Hartford Line. The federal funding will be matched by $200,000 in state funds. This study advances ongoing efforts to develop an intermodal transit station in Enfield, as part of the upgrades to the NHHS line.

“This study is an important step forward in the planning process to bring intermodal transit to Enfield as the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line undergoes extensive upgrades. Improving transit options is a crucial component of economic development in the densely-populated northeast, and in conjunction with transit-oriented housing and mixed-use development, this project has the potential to boost Enfield’s local economy and ease traffic throughout the region. I look forward to working with Connecticut officials to move this project forward,” Courtney said.

“We are working to transform how we travel, to boost efficiency, grow our economy, and build a Connecticut for the future. The economic opportunities across the Hartford Line corridor – from New Haven, through Hartford, and extending to our northern border – are exceptional. This grant will help us identify the projects that will give the biggest bang for our buck,” Governor Malloy said. “Investments in transit are investments in growing our economy and expanding jobs. The significant interest in new development around our CTfastrak bus stations is what we’re hoping to – and going to – replicate around the Hartford Line, because the same potential exists to connect people, their employers, and their communities.”

“Investment in transit is about more than transportation – it is about growing jobs and strengthening our local economy,” the members of Connecticut’s Congressional delegation said in a joint statement. “The Hartford Line will unlock new economic development possibilities up and down the corridor, connecting commuters to newly accessible employers, and creating prime, new sites for transit-oriented housing and business development. This grant provides important planning funds to ensure Connecticut is making the most of this powerful opportunity, and we look forward to continuing to support the Hartford Line and the growth that it brings.”

“As a result of the expanded passenger rail service provided by the new rail service, we anticipate TOD projects in many towns along the 62-mile rail corridor,” CTDOT Commissioner James P. Redeker said.

Connecticut was selected on a competitive basis through the United States Department of Transportation’s Transit-Oriented Development Pilot Planning Program. The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) will receive funding to advance TOD at four new stations – in North Haven, Newington, West Hartford and Enfield – as well as the two stations that will be relocated in Windsor and Windsor Locks. This grant will guide CTDOT and its partners toward the implementation of a corridor strategy for TOD to increase ridership, enhance affordable housing opportunities, create mixed-use development to activate station areas, and link people to jobs through multimodal transportation connections along the entire corridor.

The new Hartford Line will provide more frequent, convenient and faster passenger rail service between New Haven, Hartford and Springfield by increasing the number of round trip trains from six daily Amtrak intercity and regional trains to a total of 17 round trip trains a day to Hartford, and 12 trains per day to Springfield (i.e. every 30 minutes during peak rush hours and every 60 minutes on off-peak times).