Talking Transportation 2025
Engineer

Tips for Riding NextGen Acela: Amtrak’s Already-Running Train of the Future

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I finally had a chance to ride the new NextGen Acela and I have to admit, I was wrong: this really is Amtrak’s train of the future. But here are a few tips for making your next ride frictionless. These tips are mostly about riding Acela, but many hold true for slower Northeast Corridor trains. WHAT’S A NEXTGEN ACELA? These are the new trains built by Alstom, previously known as Avelia Liberty.

Talking Transportation 2025
Teenage driver

If Jim Cameron Ruled the World: Drivers Would Stop Distracting Themselves, and Trains Would Get Quiet Cars

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How many of you remember “Car Talk”, the wildly popular NPR show with Tom and Ray Magliozzi, also known as “Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers”? Not only were they brothers, but both graduated from MIT. They were walking encyclopedias of automotive wisdom. And common sense. To them, car safety meant more than just mechanics.

Talking Transportation 2025
Motor scooter two kids Denmark

Parents: New E-Bike Safety Laws Coming Oct 1 in CT (But Will They Be Enforced?)

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As if our roads weren’t dangerous enough already, there’s a new generation of “micro-mobility” silently swishing around our streets for us to worry about:  electric scooters and skateboards. The scooters (at a cost of about $1,400) can go 30 mph. The skateboards (about $700) top out at 32 mph. But following simple instructions on the web, the speed governor can be disabled allowing even faster speeds — up to 60 mph. That modification is illegal in Connecticut.

Talking Transportation 2025

Fewer Road Deaths; How Many Work From Home; Faster Trains Still Late — and More Transportation News Briefs

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I’ve always thought of Labor Day as New Year’s Eve. After a summer of vacations the new business year has begun and we’re back to the grind. But while you’ve been enjoying the summer (me, too!) we need to get updated on what’s been happening on our roads, rails and waters. TRAFFIC DEATHS DOWN SLIGHTLY: On a hopeful note, only 143 highway deaths have been tallied in our state as of mid-August — hopeful, compared to 196 deaths by the same time last year. Credit should go to the state and local police agencies for cracking down on reckless drivers and speeders.

Darien Department of Public Works 2025
Sidewalk Closed sign 910-31-16

Sidewalk to Be Replaced on Nearwater Lane in November

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The Darien Department of Public Works will begin replacing the sidewalk on Nearwater Lane between the intersections of Brush Island Road and Nickerson Lane early in November, according to an announcement on the town government website. The project will start on or about Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, the announcement said. Preliminary layout and tree removal will begin before that. The project is expected to take about one month.

Cameron on Transportation
Diana Jackson Appalachian Trail end mountain

She Went Through Four Hiking Boots Walking the Appalachian Trail and Lost 40 Pounds

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Rounding out our Summer re-run series, here’s a column from 2023 about a most determined hiker! Five years ago now, Diana Jackson was walking 2,192 miles. The Darien native is one of over 3,300 people each year who try to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail (the AT), from Georgia to Maine. But she’s one of the 25% of them that actually completed the task. She learned to hike with her parents in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and at age seven announced her goal of making the entire trek.

Talking Transportation 2025
Pullman porters in a line

A Railroad Union and Civil Rights

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In the history of American transportation, there is one crucial intersection between the railroads and civil rights: the formation, exactly 100 years ago this week, in August 1925, of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car porters by A. Phillip Randolph. This was the first predominantly African-American labor union in the U.S.
Pullman Cars
It was in 1862 that George Pullman launched the first deluxe railroad sleeping cars bearing his name. They were an instant hit, offering middle and upper-class passengers the comforts of home while on the rails. All of the Pullman car conductors were white but the porters (who tended to the passengers) were black. Many of them were former slaves.

Healthy Living
Teenage driver

When Your Kid Takes a Car to College: Tips for Parents and Students

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With college move-in day around the corner, many students are packing all the clothes, personal items and dorm supplies they need. But what about a car? AAA Northeast is reminding parents that a vehicle safety check should also be top-of-mind if their college student is bringing a car to campus. — an announcement from AAA Northeast
“While college is an exciting time for many students, being away from home, making new friends and studying for exams may also bring stress. Ensuring their cars are in tip-top shape should give students one less thing to worry about,” said Alec Slatky, managing director of public and government affairs for AAA Northeast.

Talking Transportation

Amtrak’s NextGen Acela Trains Arrive on August 28

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Amtrak’s oldest new trains are arriving shortly: The NextGen Acela (finally) starts running between Washington and Boston on Thursday, Aug. 28. Ordered in 2016 for $1.8 billion, the first trains arrived from the Alstom assembly facility in Hornell, New York in 2020. That meant jobs there for 1300 workers and business for 180 suppliers across 29 states. These new trains are 95% “made in the USA”.

Darien Department of Public Works 2025

Revised Darien Summer Paving Schedule Announced by Town Public Works Department

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A revised paving schedule, showing when certain roads in Darien will be repaved, was issued Thursday by the town Department of Public Works. The department also announced work on

The original schedule was issued in early July. Here’s the new list (minus paving that was newly scheduled from Thursday through Monday — the revised list is on the town government website, here). The paragraph at the bottom of the announcement is republished at the bottom of this article because it might be easier to read. The announcement says that bad weather may change the paving dates.

Talking Transportation 2025
Tappan Zee Bridge

The Summer of Love and Toll Collecting

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Continuing our summer reprise of some older columns, here’s an update on memories of years past…

This week marks the 56th anniversary of the grand-daddy of all rock festivals … Woodstock. I was in my teens the summer of 1969, but couldn’t get off from my job to join the swarms of rock fans. But I did see most of them. That summer I was as a “temp seasonal” toll collector on the Tappan Zee Bridge, joining Westchester and Rockland counties across the mighty Hudson River. Most days life as a toll collector on the Tappan Zee was a delight, as I was usually assigned to the far outside lane, also known as “the country club” because of its green vistas and views of the mighty Hudson River.

Cameron on Transportation
Metro-North Train Conductor

Metro-North Tickets Will Soon Cost 15.2 Percent More Than Two Years Ago — With More Inconvenience

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As predicted, fares are going up on Metro-North rides in Connecticut by 5% starting Sept. 1 with another 5% hike coming next July. Rising Price
The final approval came days ago from the MTA, parent of Metro-North, which rubber-stamped the fare hike decision by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. At least one MTA board member called the hikes “scary” and another exclaimed that he was “actually kind of offended.” But, hey — there is nobody on the MTA Board representing Connecticut riders, so they both voted to approve the hike, as did the entire MTA Board. After all, it’s not their money.

Talking Transportation 2025
FL9 railroad engines locomotives

Too-Tight Purse Strings When Investing in Our Railroads Goes Back More Decades Than You May Think

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How would you feel if your usual means of commuting went on a summer vacation? Riding the ancient Danbury branch of Metro-North is hard enough, but now it’s going to be shut down for two weeks, the trains replaced by buses from Aug. 1 to 17. The 24-mile-long, mostly single-track railroad from South Norwalk to The Hat City carries about 2,000 daily riders at an average speed of 27 mph. Now those riders will get to enjoy the “bustitutes” which will make the journey faster than the train.

Cameron on Transportation

The Car Radio: Another Familiar Device About to Enter the Museum of Defunct Technology?

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Remember when commuting was fun because you could listen to the radio? Earlier in my career I may have been the guy you heard, both on WHCN / Hartford and later on NBC. When I started in radio in 1967, AM Top 40 was king and FM was just getting started. But in 1961 the FCC decreed that all radios should have both AM and FM bands — and that FM should broadcast in stereo. And no longer could station owners just simulcast their AM programs on their FM stations: FM programming had to be different.

Darien Train Station 2025
Darien Train Station consturction 2025

Zagrodzky: Why There’s a Delay in Completing Refurbishing of Darien Train Station

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First Selectman Jon Zagrodzky went to Darien Train Station on Thursday, July 10, to talk with the state Department of Transportation construction team at the site. The project has been delayed from the original mid-August completion of work on the east side (northbound side) to mid-October, with full completion of the work on both sides of the tracks now expected in May 2026, Zagrodzky said. He said there are several reasons for the delay, including problems the manufacturer has with new electrically heated platforms will be installed as part of the project (Zagrodzky didn’t say what the problems are). Also the bankruptcy of the company supplying steel fencing along the platforms; and the discovery that the pipes and other underground structures at the site had not been mapped. More details are in the report Zagrodzky wrote up for the Town of Darien Newsletter:
Text from the Newsletter
I paid a visit to the CTDOT construction team at the Darien Train Station yesterday (July 10).