The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council has allocated $1 million for a study to determine the feasibility of reopening 14 miles of a long-defunct rail line connecting Danbury with the Metro-North Harlem line station in the Putnam County town of Southeast.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, who has advocated for the project as a potential solution for cutting the rail commute time between Danbury and New York City by an hour, announced on social media that the council’s vote on the project was unanimous.
In his Facebook post, Boughton also included an advertisement for his mayoral re-election bid that included the slogan “Keeping Danbury Right on Track: Danbury to Grand Central Direct.”
The rail line being studied was part of the Maybrook Line, which connected Derby in New Haven County to Maybrook in Orange County, New York, beginning in 1892. The line carried passengers through the 1930s and carried freight until service was terminated in 1974.
