Early service to help riders make smooth NYC journey

Hartford Line trains to New Haven leaving 15 minutes earlier

Beginning Monday, the earliest Hartford Line trains to New Haven will leave from Springfield at 5:15 a.m. and Hartford at 5:48 a.m. — 15 minutes earlier than they do now, which is intended to smooth the transfer in New Haven onto New Yorkbound trains that will arrive in the city by 9 a.m.

The state Department of Transportation also is adding a trip between Hartford and Springfield, which also will take effect Monday. A newly completed second track between Hartford and

Windsor made the added Springfield service possible, the department wrote in a news release. Two tracks now run from New Haven to Windsor, with the exception of a small length of track near Hartford’s Union Station.

The Hartford Line opened June 16.

Last month, amid reports of riders being kicked off overcrowded trains, transportation Commissioner James Redeker asked Amtrak for more cars.

“The good news is that the program is working, rid- ership is growing,” Redeker said at the time. But a frequent gripe among commuters is the line’s infrequent service, which often does not align with MetroNorth’s schedule of trains bound for New York. By shifting the first New Haven-destined train15 minutes earlier, Redeker aims to line up a transfer in New Haven that will bring commuters to New York City by 9 a.m.

“Less than six months after the launch of the Hartford Line,” Redeker said in Thursday’s news release, “we have increased service on the line and are closer to reaching the 2030 vision of rail passenger service in New England.”