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Free Rides Offered This Weekend To Promote New Hartford Rail Line

      Ceremonies are scheduled Friday to inaugurate new high-speed passenger rail service between Springfield and New Haven.

      Ribbon cuttings to mark the opening of the new Hartford Line are planned with Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy in Hartford and Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal at Springfield’s Union Station.

       The launch of the new rail line follows $760 million in track, signal, and station upgrades in Connecticut and a $95 million restoration of Union Station in Springfield.

       Between Amtrak and trains operated by the Connecticut Department of Transportation's CTrail there will be 34 daily round trips on the new line.  The schedule shows trains arriving at and departing from Springfield every 45 minutes during the peak morning and evening commuting times.

       Neal  said he's confident the new line will attract a lot of riders.

      "Connecticut rail has indicated they believe there will be here at Union Station 1,800 - 2,000 people a day," said Neal.

      To promote the new trains operated by CTRail, free rides are being offered this weekend. 

      There will be free parking at the Union Station garage.

      The Springfield Parking Authority has announced a new monthly commuter parking pass will be sold for $65 starting in July.  The old parking rate charged $50 per week.

       Earlier this week, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced a pilot program will begin in 2019 to extend the commuter train service north. Two trains will  make daily round trips between Springfield and Greenfield - one in the morning and one in the evening -- on the MassDOT-owned Knowledge Corridor Line with stops in Holyoke and Northampton.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.