Rail riders took 40.3 million passenger trips on Metro-North’s New Haven line in 2015, up 1.9 percent from 2014, which was also a record year.
So announced Gov. Dannel P. Malloy at a press conference Tuesday at Union Station.
Flanked by state transportation chief James Redeker, Malloy credited state improvements — like the addition of 405 new M‑8 rail cars as well as new bridges and overhead power lines — for the increase.
An improved economy also helped fuel the increase, he said. He said it led to more people commuting by car as well as by rail.
Malloy used the announcement to make a pitch for planned state spending of $3.9 billion on rail improvements — and for voter approval of a referendum to create a “transportation lockbox” setting aside money to pay for it (part of of an overall 30-year, $100 billion transportation improvement plan). He said those improvements would produce a $9.7 billion boost to the economy and create 4,000 to 6,000 construction jobs. Malloy plans to try for a second time this year to get the legislature to approve a constitutional amendment referendum on the lockbox to appear on the November ballot.
He noted that 49 out of 203 railroad bridges are in poor condition along the New Haven Line, and that all the bridges’ average age is 93 years old.
He called opposition to a lockbox “a vote against improving transportation, against making our state more business friendly, and against building our capacity to attract new companies.” Critics call constitutional lockboxes a poor way to govern, limiting legislators’ options and responsibility to make tough decisions year to year by carving out random budget items to protect.
“Getting this rail right that means we can actually solve the problem on the highway. Every car we get off and every additional lane of capacity — these things work hand in hand. It’s not one or the other,” Malloy argued.
Click on the video at the top of the story to watch Malloy field questions at the press conference.