CT Rail

CT Rail, stylized as CTrail, is the brand for commuter rail services overseen by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), in the U.S. state of Connecticut, with services on the Hartford Line extending into Massachusetts. CTDOT oversees two lines: Shore Line East, between New Haven and New London, Connecticut, and the Hartford Line, from New Haven, through Hartford, to Springfield, Massachusetts.^[1]

CT Rail
From top-left: GP40-3H at Hartford, Mafersa coaches at Old Saybrook, Kawasaki M8 at New London, and signage at State Street station
Overview
Owner	Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT)
Locale	Connecticut and Western Massachusetts
Transit type	Commuter rail
Number of lines	2
Number of stations	22
Daily ridership	4,255 (2019)
Annual ridership	1,410,500 (2019)
Website	ctrail.com
Operation
Began operation	1990
Operator(s)	TransitAmerica Services and Alternate Concepts (Hartford Line) Amtrak (Shore Line East)
Reporting marks	CNDX
Technical
System length	121 miles (195 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
System map Show interactive map Show static map Legend Springfield Massachusetts Connecticut in design Enfield Windsor Locks Windsor New London Hartford Niantic proposed in design West Hartford Old Saybrook proposed Newington Westbrook Berlin Clinton Meriden Madison Wallingford Guilford in design North Haven Branford New Haven State Street New Haven Union Station West Haven Milford Stratford Bridgeport Stamford This diagram: view talk edit Show route diagram map

Services are operated under contract, with Shore Line East operated by Amtrak along the Northeast Corridor, and the Hartford Line operated by a joint venture of TransitAmerica Services and Alternate Concepts.^[2][3][4] CT Rail trains, along with other CTDOT rail operations, use the reporting mark CNDX.^[5]

Lines

CT Rail operates two commuter rail lines: the Hartford Line and Shore Line East.^[2] Both lines utilize portions of the Northeast Corridor, with trains terminating at Union Station in New Haven.^[6]

Hartford Line

Main article: Hartford Line

The Hartford Line runs between New Haven Union Station in New Haven, Connecticut and Springfield Union Station in Springfield, Massachusetts, running through Hartford, Connecticut. Ten CT Rail round trips operate on weekdays, and six on weekends. This service is supplemented by eight additional roundtrips run by the Amtrak Hartford Line, which operates along the same route. CT Rail Hartford Line tickets are accepted on the Amtrak Hartford Line, and vice versa; however, the Vermonter inter-city service does not participate despite running along the same route. This line is a joint venture between the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).^[7] The line is not electrified and is a single track route that uses diesel locomotives. Service began on June 16, 2018. The majority of the Hartford Line's route is along the New Haven–Springfield Line, with two stations in New Haven, Union Station and State Street, being on the Northeast Corridor.^[6]

Shore Line East

Main article: Shore Line East

CT Rail's Shore Line East commuter rail service runs between New London and New Haven. Ten round trips operate on weekdays, and eight on weekends. Limited weekday service extends along Metro North's New Haven Line to Stamford. When service initially started along the line on May 29, 1990, CT Rail commuter trains were intended to be a temporary measure in order to reduce congestion along Interstate 95 during a highway construction project. However, the service was made permanent due to more ridership than initially anticipated. Pre-COVID, the line had an average daily ridership of about 2,100 riders. It runs along the Northeast Corridor for its entire length. Since May 2022, Shore Line East has used Kawasaki M8 electric multiple units to provide service on the line.

Rolling stock

Current

CT Rail uses the following rolling stock for its commuter rail operations: All Electric Multiple Unit cars are used on the electrified Shore Line East running on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor while locomotive hauled trains with passenger coaches are used on Amtrak's non-electrified Hartford Line. M8 electric cars are shared between Shore Line East and Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line.

Builder	Model	Photo	Active	Road numbers	Year built	Year Rebuilt	Year acquired	Notes
Locomotives
GE	P40DC		12	6700–6711	1993	2018–2024	2005, 2015	Ex-Amtrak and NJ Transit[8][9]
EMD	GP40-3H		6	6694–6699	1971[6]	2017-2019	1996[6]
Coaches
Mafersa	Coaches		33	1701–1719 (cab cars, odd numbers only) 1730–1774 (coach cars, even numbers only)	1991–1992	2004		Ex-Virginia Railway Express. Used for Hartford Line service
Electric Multiple Units
Kawasaki	M8 Railcar		471	9100–9474	2011–2015, 2019–2022	N/A	2011–2022	Shared with Metro-North. 16 used for Shore Line East service

Future

In August 2023, CTDOT approved a $315 million contract with Alstom for 60 single-level Adessia passenger cars. The cars will replace the existing coach fleet on the Hartford Line along with the Metro-North Waterbury Branch and Danbury Branch. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2026.^[10][11]

Retired

Builder	Model	Photo	Road numbers	Year built	Year Rebuilt	Year acquired	Year retired	Notes
Locomotives
EMD	F7		6690-6691[12]	1953	1970s	1990	Late-1990s	Ex-PATrain.[13] Kept in reserve fleet into the 2000s.[14] To Galveston Railroad Museum as "Santa Fe 315 and 316".
	GP38[15][16]		253, 257[17]	1966		1991	Late-1990s	Leased from Pan Am Railways.
	GP7[15][16]		471[18]	1950	1985, 1994[19]	1991	Late-1990s	Leased from Pan Am Railways.[15][16] Rebuilt by Amtrak in 1994 with an EMD 645 engine. Now operated by the Orrville Railroad Heritage Society since 2000.[19]
Coaches
Pullman Company	Coaches			1950s		1991	?	Ex-PATrain.[13][20]
Bombardier Transportation	Shoreliner III			1991[15][16]		1991	?	To Metro-North Railroad
Budd	Constitution Liner		1600 series	1980	1994	1980	2004	Former Budd SPV-2000 diesel multiple units, converted into coaches. To Metro-North Railroad after replacement by Mafersa coaches. 7 cars sold to Foxville and Northern Railroad in 2018,[21] five to Tren Interoceánico in 2023.[22][23][24]
MBB	Coaches		501, 503, 505, 508, 509, 516, 517, 522, 526, 527, 528, 532, 1505, 1509, 1518, 1520	1988[25]	2017–2018[26]		2024	Leased from MBTA.[27][26]

See also

• Metro-North Railroad
• CT Fastrak
• List of United States commuter rail systems by ridership
• Connecticut Commuter Rail Council

References

1. "Office of Rails". CT.gov – Connecticut's Official State Website. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
2. "CTrail". CT.gov – Connecticut's Official State Website. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
3. "Launch of New Hartford Passenger Line Part of 'Train Renaissance'". UConn Today. 2018-06-14. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
4. "Hartford Line | Service Provider". www.hartfordline.com. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
5. "AAR Railroad Reporting Marks (2021)". www.railserve.com. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
6. "Hartford Line | Route & Stations | Service Map". www.hartfordline.com. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
7. "Connecticut bets big with Hartford Line". Railway Age. 2018-06-19. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
8. "Notice of Contract Award" (PDF). Connecticut Department of Transportation. April 25, 2018.
9. "News Photo: First CDOT P40 rebuild debuts". Trains News Wire. March 8, 2021.
10. "Alstom to supply 60 single-level coach cars to the Connecticut Department of Transportation for its statewide rail system" (Press release). Alstom. August 9, 2023.
11. "Governor Lamont Announces Purchase of 60 New Rail Cars to Modernize Commuter Rail Lines" (Press release). Connecticut Department of Transportation. August 9, 2023.
12. "CDOT - Conneticut Department of Transportation Locomotive Roster - Railroad Picture Archives.NET". www.rrpicturearchives.net.
13. Bowen, Douglas John (November 1, 1990). "Commuter rail lines build and rebuild to meet rising demand". Railway Age. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2012 – via HighBeam Research.
14. "Shore Line East | Trains Magazine". Trains. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
15. Middleton, William D. (1994). North American commuter rail 1994. Pasadena, CA: Pentrex. p. 30. OCLC 32665882.
16. Hartley, Scott A. (May 24, 2022). "Connecticut replaces diesel Shore Line East trains with electric multiple-unit equipment". Trains. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
17. "CDOT - Conneticut Department of Transportation Locomotive Roster - Railroad Picture Archives.NET". www.rrpicturearchives.net.
18. "Pictures of CDOT 471". www.rrpicturearchives.net. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
19. "The 471". www.orrvillerailroad.com. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
20. LaMay, Robert. "The Shore Line East Commuter Railroad in Pictures". Retrieved 2011-05-28.
21. "Passenger Equipment". Foxville and Northern Railroad.
22. "(FOTOS) Tren del Istmo: ahora se va de 'outlet' a EU y estos trenes compró". Radio Fórmula (in Mexican Spanish). 23 November 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
23. "Facebook". www.facebook.com.
24. "Railexco". www.facebook.com. these cars were owned by Amtrak a very long time ago, but then sold to CONNDOT.
25. "MBTA Vehicle Inventory". NETransit. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
26. "Rail Car Repairs, Leasing Issues Put Hartford Line Start Date in Doubt". Hartford Courant. April 4, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
27. New Haven – Hartford – Springfield Rail Program [@NHHSRail] (March 13, 2018). "For the Hartford Line's service launch, CTDOT is leasing legacy Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) coaches from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). The SLE train used last weekend was for testing and training purposes only" (Tweet). Retrieved March 22, 2018 – via Twitter.