The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Amtrak to add two NE Regional Trains
The new trains will allow riders to get from Hartford to Penn Station in under 3 hours
Amtrak and the Connecticut Department of Transportation announced they plan to add two additional Northeast Regional Trains with service between Connecticut and New York City.
The two new trains will be originating on the Hartford line beginning June 5, and will provide passengers in the Nutmeg State direct access to Penn Station. Per the Connecticut Department of Transportation, riders will be able to travel between Hartford and Penn Station in less than three hours.
Both trains will make stops in New Haven, Bridgeport and Stamford. One train will leave Hartford Union Station at 5:26 a.m. and arrive at Penn Station at 8:10 a.m., while the second train will depart Hartford at 8:35 a.m. and arrive in New York at 11:21 a.m.
For northbound service, riders can leave Penn Station at 6:59 p.m. and get to Hartford at 9:51 p.m. or depart Penn Station at 8:50 p.m. and arrive in Hartford at 11:41 p.m.
According to the CTDOT press release, the new train service is being made possible through funding provided in the governor’s budget from last year. Additional changes have been made to the Hartford Line service to accommodate the new regional trains, and updated schedules can be found online.
These new services come after Amtrak suspended three overnight Northeast Regional Trains in March due to scheduled construction for the Penn Station Access Project, which will add four Metro-North stations in the Bronx and allow Metro-North trains to travel into Penn Station. Earlier this month, the company also cancelled four Acela trains and rescheduled two others.