Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles (2018)

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27 The Connecticut Department of Transportation (Connecticut DOT) supports the operation of two passenger rail lines in Connecticut—the New Haven Line and the Shore Line East (SLE). The New Haven Line, consisting of the New Haven Main Line and the New Canaan, Danbury, and Waterbury Branch Lines, is operated by Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company (Metro-North), a subsidiary of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The New Haven Line serves stations along the shoreline from New Haven to Greenwich and on to Grand Central Terminal in New York City. For more information, see the Metro-North profi le. SLE serves stations from New London to New Haven, with select trains continuing to Bridgeport and Stamford. Connecticut DOT owns the rail line west of the Division Post (east of New Haven–State Street Station and just west of Shoreline Junction) in New Haven, and Amtrak owns the rail line east of the Division Post. Amtrak operates the SLE train service under contract to CTDOT. Connecting service west of New Haven to New York City is available via Metro-North’s New Haven Line. SLE service operates along the 51-mile corridor between New London and New Haven, seven days a week including holidays, stopping at nine stations: New London, Old Saybrook, Westbrook, Clinton, Madison, Guilford, Branford, New Haven–State Street, and New Haven–Union Station. Two SLE trains provide limited-stop express (SLExpress) through service on weekdays to West Haven, Bridgeport, and Stamford stations on the New Haven Line owned by Connecticut DOT. Three SLE trains provide SLExpress from Stamford to Bridgeport, West Haven, and New Haven. SLE passengers can transfer to Metro-North at New Haven–Union Station and to Amtrak Northeast Corridor services at New Haven–Union Station, Old Saybrook, and New London stations. Connecticut Transit provides local bus service in New Haven. The Commuter Connection is a low-cost weekday commuter shuttle bus service, providing rail passengers access at Union Station in the afternoon and State Street Station in the morning. All SLE trains are diesel push-pull trains. This is in contrast to the New Haven Line, which operates with electric multiple units (EMUs). At the HISTORY Connecticut DOT began the planning process for SLE service. Connecticut DOT bought Amtrak’s New Haven maintenance facility and contracted with Amtrak to operate the rail service. Connecticut DOT initiated rail service between Union Station in New Haven and Old Saybrook as a temporary service to alleviate traffi c congestion during construction on parallel Interstate 95. SLE service was extended 18 miles east to New London. SLExpress began on Metro-North tracks to Stamford, 39 miles west of New Haven. 1986 1989 1990 1996 2001 SLE Shore Line East Connecticut Department of Transportation New Haven–New London, CT

28 Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles PERFORMANCE STATISTICS Past Trends 2012–2016 Service Data in RY* 2016 Data source: NTD *Report year: for each report year, NTD collects data refl ecting the reporter’s operation in the same fi scal year. Annual Operating Cost: $32,042,356 Total Directional Route Miles: 101 Passenger Car Revenue Miles: 1,823,515 Unlinked Passenger Trips: 849,942 Annual Total Passenger Miles: 21,215,208 Operating Cost per Passenger Car Revenue Mile Operating Cost per Passenger Passenger Trips per Passenger Car Revenue Mile Passenger Miles per Passenger Trip $17.57$17.53$16.56 $18.27 $21.29 20162015201420132012 $37.70$38.16 $33.60 $30.77 $39.59 20162015201420132012 0.470.460.49 0.59 0.54 20162015201420132012 24.9624.6824.5423.95 21.74 20162015201420132012 Connecticut DOT contracts fully bundled services for SLE to Amtrak. The present version of the agreement dates from 1997 and has been renewed in three-year increments. The nature of the contract between Connecticut DOT and Amtrak is a purchase of service agreement (PSA) for the provision of commuter rail operating and maintenance services. In the PSA arrangement, Connecticut DOT pays for commuter rail service provided by Amtrak. Connecticut DOT and Amtrak are in discussions regarding service on-time-performance requirements with penalties, and Connecticut DOT has not put the service functions covered by the agreement out for competitive bid. While this is basically a fully bundled service arrangement east of New Haven, for those SLE trains continuing west of New Haven, Metro-North dispatches trains and maintains the rail infrastructure between Stamford and the Division Post east of New Haven–State Street Station. Connecticut DOT, as the service sponsor and owner of some of the SLE stations, is actively involved in station operations, maintenance, and other service functions, particularly at the fl agship New Haven–Union Station. Connecticut DOT’s Bureau of Public Transportation oversees the daily operation of the prime contractor, Amtrak. Amtrak must comply with all Federal Railroad Administration regulations. Due to the shared nature of the rail line west of New Haven, there are interfaces between Amtrak and Metro-North. While these two entities work to resolve any issues between them, Connecticut DOT gets involved to mediate disputes if necessary. Amtrak is responsible for resiliency planning, implementing service recovery strategies, and projecting capital needs for the line segment from New London to New Haven. Connecticut DOT develops capital plans based on Amtrak’s projections and prioritizes funds for these capital projects. Connecticut DOT is also responsible for reporting data to the National Transit Database (NTD) for the Federal Transit Administration. The Connecticut DOT Bureau of Public Transportation oversees and coordinates the operation of Metro-North and SLE by the powers provided to the commissioner of transportation according to Section 13b-34 of the Connecticut General Statutes. time the SLE service began, Amtrak had not yet electrifi ed the Northeast Corridor between New Haven and Boston. Today, the entire route east of New Haven is electrifi ed under Amtrak’s traction power system. In the future, Connecticut DOT plans to replace the SLE diesel push-pull trains with EMUs to reduce diesel emissions. CONTRACTED SERVICE GOVERNANCE General Contracted Service Informaon Oversight and Responsibilies

SLE 29 A—Agency; B—Host Railroad (RR); C—Amtrak; D—Independent Contractors (RR or Non-RR) A B C D Train Operations Maintenance of Infrastructure Maintenance of Equipment Specifi cally: Train Dispatching Services Train Operations Maintenance of Equipment Facilities Maintenance Maintenance of Way Provision of Electric Traction (na) Signals and Communication Positive Train Control Maintenance (na) Station Operations and Maintenance Non-revenue Equipment Provision Safety Management Security Services Environmental Services Management/Oversight Services Materials Management Services Risk Management Assessment Customer Service Functions Marketing Communications Ticketing/Sales Revenue Collection Information Technology Systems Accident/Fatality Investigations/Support Supplemental Work Other (na) The matrix below illustrates the responsibility for major service functions for SLE. The capital letters A, B, and C represent the CTDOT in-house staff, the host railroad (Metro-North for SLExpress), and Amtrak, respectively. In this case, D for the independent contractor is not applicable. Contracted Service Matrix