Train To Danbury Slower Than 1920s

Nothing has changed since the 1920s except maybe there’s more trees, but last week the Danbury News Times reported this curious factoid:

In the 1920s, it took about 42 minutes to ride a train from Danbury to Norwalk.

Now, after eight decades of progress and technological innovation, it takes about 50 minutes.

The report centered on the Congresscritters Jim Himes-D fourth CD, Chris Murphy-D fifth CD, press tour along the line.

“You would think it would be shorter,” said Dave Hannon, the deputy director of the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials last week.

Hannon was among a group of area leaders — includingU.S. Congressmen Chris Murphy and Jim Himes — who rode the rails last week to promote the need to improve the Danbury-to-Norwalk line.

Better train service, they said — more modern, faster, more frequent — is essential for the region to thrive.

“If we do this right, it can represent a tremendous change for the region,” said Murphy, D-5th District.

  • Master Cheese

    Better trains and more trains more often and of course the rte 7 connector from Norwalk to Danbury. It is disgraceful how the rte 7 project in lower Fairfield County has never progressed. A commute that should take no more than about 20 minutes is hovering around 1 hour. So much for easing congestion, not building this connection has increased the number of cars not only on rte 7 itself but all the residential back roads. Too bad those making the decisions don’t see the benefits of having better, more and often trains but to have a better communiting roadway connection. Shame on you!

  • BLARNEY

    So how’s that Super 7 working out for ya?

    Oops I forgot, we never built it.

  • TED – RICHARDS AVENUE

    I am a train person – go to NYC everyday, but the Danbury train to Norwalk takes forever

    The fact the Super 7 is not built is a disgrace.

    The only politician with any b-lls to take on Super 7 is Duff.

    I have seen frequent bashing of him on this site but he has my vote.

  • Marley

    There’s a meeting a 7:00pm Thursday night in the Wilton High School Cafeteria to talk about Super 7 if you’re bored and looking for something to do.

    http://www.route7.org/

    PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING Thursday, February 25, 2010
    Wilton High School Cafeteria
    395 Danbury Road
    Wilton, CT 06897
    Informal Open House: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
    Presentation 7:00 pm

    The South Western Regional Planning Agency (SWRPA) along with the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO) is conducting a transportation and land use study of Route 7 between Norwalk and Danbury. Route 7 is a critical transportation connection for life in southwestern Connecticut.

    The first of three public information meetings is being held to present and discuss the study scope, status, the vision for the corridor, and to review existing transportation and land use conditions.
    Area residents, business owners, commuters, and all interested stakeholders are encouraged to attend this meeting to share your views about issues and opportunities for improvement in the Route 7 corridor

  • nwlknative

    If people are expected to rely upon trains between Danbury and Norwalk to ease commuting, there had better be some form of mass transit waiting at the train stations at both ends to get people where they are going. How do you get from Danbury to parts beyond without a vehicle? I’m talking New Fairfield, Bethel, Newtown, etc. I assume you can get on a bus in South Norwalk and change routes at the pulse point, which is in itself not very convenient. We needed the Route 7 expressway 40 years ago and we need it more now. How much more information does the State need – these meetings have been going on forever. A waste of time and energy.

    • http://routefriend.com David Marcus

      It would be great to see a station near the pulse point. It would give the thousands of residents within walking distance a direct ride to Grand Central during commuting hours–including the soon-to-be residents of Avalon.

  • kylej

    The train really crawls between Merrit 7 and The SoNo station. I don’t know if it’s the at grade crossings on Commerce and over by the dump or what, but often times it comes to a complete stop for a minute or two before merging onto the New Haven line. Hopefully the upgraded signaling that is currently (supposedly) being added will reduce the travel time. If they could shave a few minutes off there would definitely be more riders, as it is right now the trip from Danbury to Norwalk is about the same as driving during rush hour, maybe a hair quicker.

  • Kurm Udgeon

    As long as those upstanding, sharing and caring neighbors of ours in Wilton continue to have a major case of NIMBY, super 7 will continue to be a dream. And when you couple it with Toni Bouchers intransigence on the matter and Hartfords ability to ignore Fairfireld County and it’s needs, while sucking up our tax dollars greedily, the tune will continue to play the same old song. So, while some get joy from the way it is, the rest of us need to get used to business as usual. As the movie was titled; “Reality Bites”.

  • Barnstorm

    On the nose Kurm!

  • urbanist

    The train service here has an interesting history. The New York to New Haven line was the first in the country to electrify. The Norwaslk to Dasnbury branch line was one of the few to ever DE-electrify. they should go with the full-blown proposasl to widen it to two tracks each way for the full length of the line, extend the line, re-electrify it and upgrade the signalling as well as the proposed straightenings and improvements. Electric powered trains are faster, cleaner, and quieter.

  • OLD TIMER

    It is very slow because of all the grade crossing, Glover Ave, Perry Ave, New Canaan Ave, Catherine st, Cross St, and Commerce St. Way back when, there were stops, no stations, just platforms, at Glover Ave, Catherine St, and Commerce St. The owner of the Norwalk to Danbury Line was Manice DeForrest Lockwood, the same Lockwood who built the mansion behind St Phillips Church , as a summer home. There was a large mill on Glover Ave that was powered by water from the river. It made blankets for the Union Army during the civil war, later was the Norwalk Tire Co, then Caldor’s headquarters. Neighborhood kids used to carry buckets of beer from a nearby tavern to the mill at lunch time back in the early part of the last century. The stop was called Winnapauk. The Mill pond was drained when the Merrit seven complex was started. The train was essentially a local in Norwalk. Adding another track through Norwalk would be tough, through the Wall St tunnel.