Governor Rell is right about getting trains from Connecticut to Penn Station. The Northeast economic corridor runs from Philadelphia, through New York, Connecticut and on to Boston. Trying to get from Connecticut to Philadelphia is one of those awkward challenges. Not to mention trying to get to Washington DC from Connecticut etc. Currently you can only take Amtrak, which can be picked up in either Bridgeport or Stamford. Opening a direct line to Penn Station would get you to the New Jersey Transit. From the Hour:

Commuter service from Connecticut to Manhattan’s Pennsylvania Station is a “viable strategy,” according to a report announced by Gov. M. Jodi Rell Wednesday.

Earlier this summer, Rell called for the state Department of Transportation to review whether service could feasibly run from Metro-North’s New Haven Line to Pennsylvania Station.

“If we can provide service to Penn Station, we will,” said Gov. M. Jodi Rell in a release. “The study shows more than one million automobile trips per year would be eliminated in one of the most congested parts of our state — the (Interstate 95) corridor — if daily Penn Station service were offered.”

However, Rell’s press release offered a creative interpretation of Manhattan’s geography. Grand Central Terminal is roughly five miles from the financial district, but Pennsylvania station is only half a mile closer.
Wall Street commuters arriving at either train station would still have long subway rides ahead of them.

Yet Rell said service to Penn Station would be a “new service to Manhattan and the financial district.” Rell’s press release places Pennsylvania Station — located on the border of midtown Manhattan and Chelsea — in “lower Manhattan.”

Jim Cameron, chairman of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council, said he hopes state transportation officials understand “the geography of Manhattan.”

“The press release is wrong for implying that trains in Penn Station are closer to the financial district,” Cameron said. “That’s just wrong. In terms of mass transit, service is much better down to Wall Street from Grand Central.”

Service to Pennsylvania Station has been pushed by Bombardier Transportation, a Canadian railcar manufacturer, which last year lost out to Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. to build new trains for Metro-North’s New Haven Line. The state has already ordered at least 300 railcars from Kawasaki, a Japanese company.

Of course it’s a quaint interpretation that the financial district is limited to lower Manhattan. Companies like UBS, Lehman Brothers, American Express and Citigroup have significant locations in Northern Jersey. Getting workers from these locations to other corporate sites in Connecticut would be a smart thing.

source: The Hour Rell’s rail proposal a bit off track on Manhattan geography, by Patrick Linsey, August 9, 2007