Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Stamford Mayor David Martin appeared together at the Stamford Government Center this morning to call upon the Federal Railroad Administration to abandon any consideration of plans to reroute rail service out of downtown Stamford and Norwalk and through environmentally sensitive and historically significant areas.
The FRA last week issued details about long-term passenger rail needs in the Northeast, proposing a realignment that could reroute rail out of downtown Stamford and Norwalk.
“A rail line that avoids urban downtown areas like Stamford and Norwalk and proceeds through historic and environmentally sensitive areas is a non-starter ”“ dead on arrival,” Blumenthal declared. “The FRA is right that we need track upgrades, infrastructure improvements and faster and more reliable rail service, but that cannot come at the expense of local economic development and environmental priorities.”
