The Metro-North Waterbury branch officially reopened on Monday after months of being shut down for repairs.
Train service at the Waterbury branch was temporarily suspended in mid-August after historic floods caused two washouts near Beacon Falls and Seymour, preventing any trains from operating, according to Josh Morgan, the communications director for the CT Department of Transportation (CT DOT).
“It took more than 7,000 tons of materials to fill in one of the washed out areas by the Kinneytown Dam, just a significant hole that was left on that rail line,” Morgan said.
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Morgan added employees with CT DOT, Metro-North and third-party contractors worked around the clock to restore the popular train branch.
“The Waterbury branch line has been such a success story in connecting people to jobs, employment, healthcare. It's one of our lines where the ridership far exceeded the numbers before the COVID-19 pandemic,” Morgan said.
Commuters who use the Waterbury branch train were glad to see the service was back as they shared some of the inconveniences they faced while taking the bus.
“I travel from Derby to Waterbury to go to Naugatuck Valley, the community college here, so it's about four or five stops, the bus takes 10 minutes longer,” Amelia Nolan said.
Commuter Jane Mednick from Winstead shared how inconvenient it was to find someone to give her a ride to the Bridgeport train station to then catch a train to get into New York City.
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“It's a half an hour to drive here, but it's an hour to get to Bridgeport and I don’t like to leave my car down there,” Mednick said.
Governor Ned Lamont announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has amended the major disaster declaration to include the Public Assistance Program. This will allow state and local governments to receive partial reimbursement for damage to infrastructure and emergency response measures.
The CT DOT spent close to $15 million to repair the Waterbury branch along with minor damages at the New Canaan and Danbury branch.
The CT DOT is eligible for reimbursements through FEMA’s disaster declaration, according to Morgan.
