Dear friends of Regional Rail:
This coming Wednesday, June 20, 2007 the Regional Rail Working Group will
participate in the reception/presentation on Regional Rail in the lobby
of the Stamford Government Center, 888 Washington Boulevard, Stamford, CT
06901 ( two blocks north of the Stamford train station) in lieu of its
regular monthly meeting.
The Reception and Presentation is from 5-7pm.
The event is sponsored by:
" South Western Regional Planning Agency
" The Business Council of Fairfield County
" CT Metro-North Rail Commuter Council
" National Association of Railroad Passengers
" Institute for Rational Urban Mobility, Inc.
and Hosted by the City of Stamford, CT
This will be a very important opportunity for advocates of Regional Rail
to advance their cause.
A "who's who" of SW CT transportation interests will be present.
Preceding this event, at 3pm, will be the regular monthly meeting of the
governing body of the "Coastal Corridor Transportation Investment Area"
(CCTIA) in the conference room of the South Western Regional Planning
Agency (SWRPA) offices on the third floor of the same building. CCTIA is
a consortium of the six Planning Regions that cover the area served by
Metro-North in Connecticut. For more information about CCTIA check their
web pages at www.gbrpa.org/cctia . These planning regions are the
Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) that must approve plans for
Federal transport funds in this part of CT -- an area containing some 1.8
million residents, more than half of the state's population.
Following the reception/presentation, at 7pm, will the regular monthly
meeting of the CT Metro-North Rail Commuter Rail Council -- the official
citizen's advisory group for the M-N commuter rail operation in CT.
All three events are open to the public. Members of the RRWG are
encouraged to attend these events.
Informed advocates for Regional Rail can make a difference. Already, in
no small part due to our persistent advocacy of thru-running at Penn
Station, CT Governor M. Jodi Rell has directed ConnDOT to consider
purchasing double-deck cars identical to those being built for NJ Transit
for operation from CT to Penn Station. This will be discussed extensively
at the 3pm and 7pm CT meetings.
RRWG will resume it regular monthly meetings in July.
The following information was circulated to CT organizations, as part of
the announcement of the event:
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"Connecting Connecticut"
The preservation and enhancement of the New Haven commuter rail line is
essential for the well-being of residents and businesses located in the
southwestern part of Connecticut. The rail line's most challenging
mission remains bringing thousands of commuters from Connecticut to
Manhattan each weekday.
Yet the state's massive investment in infrastructure and rail cars can
become much more useful if the rail line's focus were extended beyond
this core mission. The New Haven Line can be recast into a key component
of a "Regional Rail" system, with frequent service, integrated fares and
thru-running. With trains running every ten to twenty minutes, all day
long, local travelers could have a reasonable alternative to driving
between communities in Connecticut. Full integration of fares would mean
travelers would not have to pay extra fares to change from bus to rail.
And thru service would mean that travel by public transit within the
NY-NJ-CT metropolitan area would become a credible option for many trips.
The plan was prepared by the Regional Rail Working Group, an informal
collaboration of transit advocates from all three states, hosted by the
Institute for Rational Urban Mobility, Inc. (IRUM), a NYC-based
not-for-profit corporation. The exhibit will be in the lobby until the
end of June.
If you cannot make it to the reception, view the exhibit on-line at
www.irum.org click on "Making the Connection"
For more information contact: George Haikalis, President, IRUM,
geo@irum.org
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The purpose of the Regional Rail Working Group is to develop and advance
plans for converting the region's commuter rail lines into a regional
rail system, with fast, frequent service and affordable, integrated
fares. The group also considers changes to rapid transit and light rail
transit
that are "regional" in scale.
Regional Rail issues are discussed on our website: www.rrwg.org
The working Group includes:
Empire State Passengers Association
NJ Association of Railroad Passengers
Lackawanna Coalition
Five Towns Rural Transit, Inc.
Committee for Better Transit
Institute for Rational Urban Mobility
geo
George Haikalis
Chair, Regional Rail Working Group
One Washington Square Village, Apt. 5D
New York, NY 10012 phone: 212-475-3394 fax:212-475-5051
geohaikalis@juno.com www.irum.org www.auto-free.org
www.vision42.org www.rrwg.org
