HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut’s Shore Line East commuter rail operation could revert to diesel-powered trains under a budget-saving move, the state’s transportation commissioner told a budget hearing last week.
The move would reverse a 2022 switch from diesel-powered trains to the current Kawasaki M8 electric multiple-unit trainsets [see “Connecticut replaces diesel Shore Line East trains …,” Trains.com, May 24, 2022]. At the time, Gov. Ned Lamont highlighted the environmental benefits of the switch, as well as the improved amenities for riders.
The news site CT Insider reports in a paywalled article that Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said the move could save $8.8 million annually. The state must pay Amtrak not only for the use of use of the Northeast Corridor on Shore Line East’s New Haven-New London route, but also for the electricity used to power its trains. Eucalitto said the move was considered the best option to save money without cutting service. The fiscal 2026-27 budget proposed by Lamont calls for spending an additional $19.7 million to maintain current service levels for the state’s commuter operations [see “Connecticut governor’s budget …,” Trains.com, Feb. 6, 2026].
Shore Line East service offers 10 round trips between New Haven and New London on weekdays, and eight on weekends, with seven intermediate stops, although not all trains stop at all stations. Currently, one weekday train in each direction continues to or from Stamford, Conn.
— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
How is it that AMTRAK owns the electricity? From New York Penn to Washington, the PRR owned the tracks — and bought the electricity from local providers.
There are examples where three parties are involved (and all three in on a deal with money exchanged in appropriate amounts), a local customer, a distant utility, and a local utility in between to carry the current. A distant utility with power to spare at one or another time (examples might include Ontario Hydro or TVA) might sell to a remote customer.
I can’t see Amtrak agreeing to such a deal with Shore Line East, given Amtrak’s expense in catenary and substations.
As I recall, MARC has also begun running diesels on the Penn Line, which uses the NEC from Washington DC to Baltimore and on to the north (I believe Perryville?). And the reasoning was the same; diesels were cheaper than paying Amtrak for electricity. They still have, or had, some electrics in the form of rebuilt HHP-8’s, but I don’t know how long those will last.
I too would be interested in knowing the cost difference between diesel fuel and Amtrak’s electricity. Caltrain seems to pay a lot less for their power than they did for fuel, so I wonder if Amtrak just has a serious markup?
Is the marginal cost to Amtrak of the additional electricity actually greater than the cost of diesel fuel?
So much for the proponents of electrification and/or environmentalists who don’t like diesel fumes. To extrapolate further east on Amtrak NEC, this could mean that MBTA’s Providence – Wickford Junction line will continue indefinitely running diesels under Amtrak wire.
How did this ever go so wrong, that Amtrak and the local people can’t work together.
In its awesome wisdom (to translate to English, glad I no longer live there) the Commonwealth of Massachusetts wants to string catenary all along MBTA’s hundreds of miles of commuter lines. Here we have two commuter line, Mass MBTA and Connecticut Shore Line East, that can’t run electrics where the wires already exist.