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Looking for a summer day trip to find some fun that will teach your kids about transportation? Just hop a Metro-North train (or drive, if you must) to the Danbury Railway Museum. I usually find railway museums a bit depressing as they tend to be dusty monuments to the past. But not this one. In addition to a beautifully curated collection of memorabilia, it also still has a working railroad.
How did Americans develop their love affair with driving? Visit the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington and the transportation exhibit “America on the Move” will sell you on the commonly held theory that when Henry Ford made cars affordable, Americans loved them and demanded more and more highways. Of course, that exhibit is sponsored by General Motors, which donated millions to put its name on the collection. But University of Virginia history professor Peter Norton, author of Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in American Cities contends that’s a myth. Just as outgoing President Dwight Eisenhower warned us of the military-industrial complex, Norton says an automotive-construction complex took over our country, paving from coast to coast.
True confession (as if you didn’t know): I am a rail fan. But don’t call me a “foamer!” People who love trains come in all shapes and sizes, but “foamer” is a term they universally hate. “Foamers” is how railroad employees refer to rail fans because they think we “foam” at the mouth anytime we see a train. To them, railroading is just a job. To us, it’s a passion.
We are all familiar with Amtrak’s local operations in the Northeast: The sleek Acela zooming along to Boston at up to 145 mph and the slower, traditional trains making local stops along the Connecticut coast. But Amtrak is a national railroad and some of its long-distance trains face delays of several hours — not minutes. The problem is Amtrak owns and operates the trains, but not the tracks. From Washington to Boston, the Northeast Corridor is owned, maintained, dispatched and operated by Amtrak. The one small exception is here in Connecticut, from Greenwich to New Haven, where the track is owned by the state, but run under contract by Metro-North.
In mass transit, there is no such thing as a free ride. But there are various ways of making sure everyone pays their fair share. For example, Connecticut’s innovative bus rapid-transit system CTfastrak, which runs between New Britain, Hartford and Storrs, requires passengers to pay before they board. Riders can purchase tickets — $1.75 for two hours of use — at the bus stations or online. This reduces the bus “dwell time” at each stop as passengers can board through any door.
It was the British folks at the Cunard cruise line who said: “Getting there is half the fun.”
Crossing the Atlantic in style on an ocean liner certainly was great, but whatever your mode of transportation, getting the right seat can make for an enjoyable or miserable trip. On Metro-North, I usually go for a window seat. However, on crowded trains, any seat is better than none. But I can still get an “upgrade” if I pay attention. Heading into New York, I watch for people getting off the train in Stamford.
Whether you’re a daily commuter, an occasional day-tripper or have friends visiting from out of town, everyone can save money when you go into New York City on Metro-North by following these tips:
TransitChek
Ask your employer to subscribe to this great service, which allows workers to spend up to $260 per month on transit using pre-tax dollars. If you’re in the upper tax brackets, that’s a huge savings. A recent survey shows 45 percent of all New York City companies offer TransitChek, which can be used on trains, subways and even ferries. Go off-peak
If your train arrives at Grand Central Terminal weekdays after 10 a.m. and you can avoid the 4 to 8 p.m. peak return hours, you can save 25 percent. Off-peak fares are in effect on weekends and holidays.
There has not been a profitable passenger railroad in the United States. Amtrak and commuter lines like Metro-North operate at a loss as a public service, their deficits borne by tax dollars. But that changed last month with the launch of Brightline, a privately owned, for-profit passenger railroad in Florida. Running between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, the railroad is owned by Fortress Investment Group. The group has ties to Florida East Coast Railways, which owns the freight tracks that the new passenger trains will use.
“Commuting on Metro-North is like getting hit with a 2-by-4. Service is getting worse and now you’re hitting us with a 10 percent fare hike.”
Those comments came from Jeffrey Maron, vice chairman of the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council, a usually mild-mannered, two-compliments-before-any-complaint kind of guy. But Maron’s tone changed, as he quizzed state Department of Transportation Commissioner Jim Redeker at the recent CCRC meeting in Stamford. The transportation czar outlined the reasons for pending service cuts and fare hikes, explaining the Special Transportation Fund is running dry and he has no choice but to cut expenses and raise revenue. Maron reminded the commissioner that council members offered fund-raising suggestions, but never received a reply.
It should have been done by now: 2018 was the expected completion year of the new railroad tunnels under the Hudson River. When it was proposed in 2009, the $9 billion project was the biggest infrastructure initiative in the country. Now it’s just a footnote to history. Why do rail tunnels from New York’s Penn Station to New Jersey matter to us here in Connecticut? Because they are the weakest but most crucial link in the Northeast corridor, the $50 billion heart of the U.S. economy.