Coming down the tracks

Here a few stories that reporter Jackie Majerus and I wrote about trains in Bristol:

Bristol and state officials are climbing aboard a plan to bring passenger train service back to the Mum City.
"We've been looking at it," said state Sen. Donald DeFronzo, a New Britain Democrat who chairs the legislature's transportation committee.
DeFronzo said lawmakers are studying the possibility of relieving congestion on Interstate 84 by re-introducing commuter trains that would carry passengers from Waterbury to Berlin, with stops in Bristol and New Britain.
"It would be a longer term possibility, but certainly one that is worth looking at," DeFronzo said. "The right of way is there."
The tracks already run through Waterbury, Bristol, Plainville, New Britain, Berlin and Hartford, said DeFronzo.
State Rep. Frank Nicastro, a Bristol Democrat and also a city councilor, spoke in favor of the idea.
"We'd be saving big dollars and we'd be taking people off the highway," said Nicastro.
The railroad tracks are now used for freight, but for years, they carried passenger trains.
"You got tracks running through the center of Bristol," Nicastro said.
Nicastro said he thinks a commuter train would prove more popular than a busline for Bristol riders.
"Believe me, a lot of people would take that train," said Nicastro. "Commuters enjoy taking trains a lot more than buses."
Bristol Mayor Art Ward also said he likes the idea of passenger trains running in Bristol again. He said he's encouraged by recent talks with railroad officials.
It's unclear how much it would cost to ready the tracks for passenger use.
"We're trying to get a fix on what the real cost might be," said DeFronzo.
DeFronzo said it would involve upgrading the rail and some of the rail bed.
"I think we should look at it. It does have potential," DeFronzo said. "It would require a major investment of funds."
The busway project, which uses old railroad rights of way for a bus to take commuters from New Britain to Hartford, is a "similar project" to the commuter trains, said DeFronzo.
"It, too, is using an old, defunct rail line," said DeFronzo.
If something were to derail the busway project, said DeFronzo, "This would be a realistic and immediate back up to that plan."
In order to move toward adding a commuter train, DeFronzo said, the state would first have to have a feasibility study done.
"That would be the linchpin for future deliberations," said DeFronzo, who said a study could be done as early as next year.
If the study found it to be reasonable, said DeFronzo, "We would probably pursue it."
DeFronzo said there would be some issues with crossings, which include one over Route 6 in Bristol and another on Main Street in New Britain. The trains don't run often now, so the interruption isn't great, but DeFronzo said if passenger trains ran many times a day, those high traffic crossings may need a bridge or tunnel.
To use the rails for passenger trains, DeFronzo said, they'll have to improve them so the trains can move more quickly.
Currently, it's a low speed line, he said, with trains sometimes traveling just 15 or 20 miles an hour.
"Years ago, it was a primary freight line," said DeFronzo. "It's still used now, but it's very underutilized."

Tracks can take passenger trains
There’s nothing to prevent passenger trains from using the Pan Am Railways track through Bristol, a top railroad company executive says.
“We work well with passenger and freight on the same line,” said Roger Bergeron, the Massachusetts-based railroad’s vice president for special projects.
The track in Bristol heads west into Plymouth before dropping south to Waterbury. To the east, it runs through Plainville and New Britain to the main Connecticut Valley line in Berlin.
Bergeron said that some improvements would be needed to make passenger service practical, but he suspects the cost would be reasonable.
Along the Haverill, Mass., Pan Am has 38 MBTA commuter trains that share the tracks with 20 freight trains and 10 Amtrak trains, Bergeron said. He said it’s just a matter of scheduling.
Bergeron said that studies have been done in the past about the potential for passenger service on the line in Bristol, but they focused on the commuter possibilities for people heading to and from New York City.
He said there are “a lot of opportunities” for passenger service in the area, but only if the rail line is included in state planning so that necessary station sites, upgrades and design can be considered early on.
“It’s entirely possible and reasonable” to have passenger rail between Waterbury and Berlin, Bergeron said. The line could connect with the planned busway at the Berlin end, officials said.

Economic development opportunities
There may be economic development opportunities connected to Bristol’s railroad tracks that could be pursued, officials said.
“We see a good opportunity to use the railroad,” said John Leone, president of the Greater Bristol Chamber of Commerce. “The rail, we think, is an unsung hero.”
“Our railroad is an underutilized asset, even for us,” said Roger Bergeron, vice president for special projects for the Massachusetts-based Pan Am Railways.
“We want to put capacity into the line,” said Bergeron, who made clear that the tracks in Bristol could handle many more trains.
“We have a great relationship with this town. We’d like it to be better,” Bergeron said.
Bergeron said there are some opportunities for more railroad-related development in Bristol.
There is “a tremendous potential” to bolster the use of the tracks leading up to the former General Motors factory on Chippens Hill, already home to two major users of the rail line, Firestone Building Products and Clark Steel.
He said that one problem the railroad has is that it doesn’t maintain a database of available property near its line so it can’t necessarily help companies that are looking for space beside the tracks.
“We constantly get inquiries,” Bergeron said.
For example, Bergeron said, there are big paper mills in Maine that are searching for warehouse space near a train line where they could store massive rolls of paper.
Another possibility for Bristol is assembling train cars that are brought in by ship but need to specialized work before they can be used, including a chance to roll on the line to make sure they operate properly, Bergeron said.
Bergeron mentioned, too, that the railroads are facing a growing shortage of skilled workers to make sure tracks are safe, locomotives can run and more.
Jon Lodovico, an administrator at Tunxis Community College, said that perhaps the Farmington college could start a training program.

Bristol railroad facts
Line is owned by the Boston and Maine Corp.
Rail operations are done by the Springfield Terminal Railway Co.
Pan Am Railways (formerly Guilford Rail System) owns both the Boston and Maine and Springfield Terminal Railway
Railroad line built in 1848

History of the railroad in Bristol
Passenger rail service wouldn't be new if lawmakers decide a commuter train is the ticket for resolving congestion on Interstate 84.
Passenger trains have a long history in Bristol, according to Bristol Historical Society President Steven Vastola.
Vastola recently gave a presentation on trains in Bristol at the historical society.
In part because of the rocky terrain, it took five years to lay the track in Bristol, according to Vastola, who said passenger service began in 1855.
The tracks that run through Bristol have had many owners, according to Vastola.
Early investors in the rail system in Bristol were the manufacturing powerbrokers of the day, according to Vastola, including clockmakers.
"They needed the train to keep their other companies going," he said.
In 1957, they were investors in the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad, Vastola said, the line that came to Bristol.
From 1876 to 1895, the New York and New England Railroad owned the tracks, which by then made it to the Hudson River.
But there was no bridge crossing the river, Vastola said, "They actually ran the freight cars onto barges. They ran 600 freight cars a day on ferry boats across the river."
There were two depots in Bristol, one downtown and one, built later, in Forestville.
In 1886, the Bristol Depot, the first one built downtown, burned, he said. A second one opened the following year, and the Forestville station opened in 1888.
From 1895 to 1968, J.P. Morgan's New Haven Railroad held Bristol's tracks.
Around the turn of the century, Main Street was lowered and the track put on the trestle above the street.
A three-rail electric train – with a deadly third rail – ran from Bristol to New Britain every hour from 1898 to 1907, said Vastola.
The Terryville tunnel, a mile and a half long, was built in 1909, according to Vastola.
"It's the longest train tunnel in the state," said Vastola. "It's still used today."
The railroad took some hits later this century, including the Flood of '55 and the President Eisenhower's interstate highway system, which Vastola called "the next big coffin nail for the railroad" because moving freight by trucks hurt the trains.
In 1960, passenger service ended in Bristol, and from 1968 to 1976, the Penn Central Co. held the rails.
New Departure's threat to leave Bristol during those years prompted the city to add a rail spur to Chippens Hill that hit the old Carnation plant and the ball bearings factory.
Though the industries there have changed, the line is still in use today, said Vastola.
Other railroad companies that owned the tracks in Bristol, according to Vastola, were Conrail from 1976 to 1982 and after that, the Boston & Maine Guilford Rail System, which has now become Pan Am Railways.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com