In its earlier days as a profitable, private railroad, the New Haven line ran hundreds of freight trains each day. But today the railroad is too crowded with (relatively faster) passenger trains, and the bridges and catenary lines are too low for modern double-stack container trains. In other parts of Connecticut, freight still travels by rail on more than 500 miles of track, most of it owned by the state Department of Transportation and leased to eight different private operators. These short line railroads already carry 3.8 million tons of freight annually in our state, keeping 350,000 truck loads off our roads and reducing greenhouse emissions by 75 percent. Diesel trains can carry up to 500 ton-miles per gallon. Trucks manage about 130. Eight years ago the state bonded $10 million to fund such repairs and the railroads chipped in their own money, too. They had to, with $80 million of needed work, most of which has gone unfinished. Early in 2020, the legislature approved an additional $10 million in investments, but the Bond Commission has yet to approve the funding and issue the bonds.
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