A bipartisan group of mostly Fairfield County-based legislators is urging the state Department of Transportation to use a portion of its forthcoming federal infrastructure funds to upgrade and improve the Danbury rail line.
The effort, led by Reps. Raghib Allie-Brennan (D-Bethel, Danbury, Redding and Newtown and Bill Buckbee (R-New Milford), involves allocating a portion of the roughly $5.4 billion the state expects to receive from the $1 trillion-plus Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to the line. The legislation was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Nov. 15.
In a letter to state DOT Commissioner Joseph Giulietti, the lawmakers say they are seeking “dedicated funding for the electrification of the existing Danbury Branch Line service between the South Norwalk and Danbury Stations as well as extending passenger rail service from Danbury to New Milford.
“Currently, there are limited transportation options available to the traveling public in Western Connecticut,” the letter continues. “While there is existing bus and commuter rail service operating in this region, they do so with limited frequency and connectivity. In addition, Danbury line riders lose time transferring from diesel trains to Metro-North’s electric trains at the South Norwalk station.”
The results of such investments, the letter says, would include reducing vehicular congestion off Route 7, enhancing economic development, and limiting the area”™s carbon footprint.
“These improvements have been extensively studied over the past decade and have been shown to reduce travel time and increase ridership,” the legislators write.
While the rail line north of Danbury that runs to New Milford is an active freight-only line owned and operated by the Housatonic Railroad, the lawmakers say that it could provide passenger service to Brookfield and New Milford if it was extended north.
In addition to Allie-Brennan and Buckbee, signatories of the letter include Reps. Aimee Berger-Girvalo (D-Ridgefield), Stephanie Thomas (D-Norwalk, Westport, Wilton), Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield, Bethel, Danbury), Bob Godfrey (D-Danbury), Kenneth Gucker (D-Danbury, New Fairfield, Ridgefield), Anne Hughes (D-Easton, Redding, Weston), Tom O”™Dea (R-New Canaan, Wilton), Tony Scott (R-Monroe, Newtown), Patrick Callahan (R-Danbury, New Fairfield, Sherman) and Mitch Bolinsky (R-Newtown).
Also signing were state Sens. Julie Kushner (D-Bethel, Danbury, New Fairfield, Sherman) and Craig Miner (R-Brookfield).
