State Focusing on High Speed Rail Between New Haven And Springfield

I suppose anything that improves the high speed rail corridor between New York and Boston is a good thing. But isn’t it tiring to hear about improvements in the boondocks of Connecticut when close to 50% of all state income tax come from Fairfield County?

The idea is to add a track so that Amtrack can hit 110 mph along a the stretch between New Haven and Springfield, by adding a second track between Newington and New Britain. Supposedly that stretch is shovel ready, and the Feds would kick in $41 million, while the state would kick in $17.7 million. But wait, isn’t the state shortfall so bad that there’s budget cuts needed on everything? And isn’t the state on the hook for $28 million, and counting, on the settlement for railroading a cheap land appraisal on quarry owners in Danbury when the DOT decided to expand the route 7 interchange?

It would seem that the master plan for Connecticut, as it has always been, is to increase sprawl upstate and get Fairfield County to pay for it.