With $30 million in federal stimulus funding, the state plans to replace manual signals on 24 miles of commuter track connecting Danbury and Norwalk.
The state had previously received a $23 million commitment from the Federal Transit Administration to install remote control signals on 8 miles of the Danbury branch of the New Haven line, which is owned by the state and operated by Metro-North. At the peak of the last economic cycle, the line carried some 800 commuters daily.
Currently, trains cannot move from one section of track into another without verbal approval from a controller in New York. Although there are sidings at Norwalk, Branchville, Wilton and Danbury, there is only one track virtually the entire distance between Danbury and Norwalk, so trains cannot pass each other without permission.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation plans to award the contract in 2010 and complete the project in 2011.
