CTfastrak

CTfastrak

A 62-foot CTfastrak bus at Downtown New Britain station in November 2015
Locale	Central Connecticut
Service type	Bus rapid transit
Routes	5 local routes 4 express routes
Stations	10
Daily ridership	12,081 (September 2016)
Fuel type	hybrid diesel-electric
Operator	Connecticut Transit
Website	ctfastrak.com

CTfastrak (constructed as the New Britain-Hartford Busway) is a regional bus rapid transit system currently operating between Union Station in Hartford and Downtown New Britain station in New Britain in central Connecticut. Operated by Connecticut Transit, it is the first bus rapid transit system in Connecticut and the second in New England after the MBTA Silver Line. CTfastrak opened on March 28, 2015 after fifteen years of planning and three years of construction.

CTfastrak services run on a 9.4-mile (15.1 km) dedicated busway which runs on an abandoned railroad right-of-way from Downtown New Britain to Newington Junction and alongside the active New Haven-Springfield Line from Newington Junction to downtown Hartford. Five local and four express routes operate along the busway and over on-street loops in downtown Hartford.

The CTfastrak busway is built on current and former railroad rights-of-way owned by the state and Amtrak, which allowed for the busway to be constructed with minimal taking of private land. From its north end in downtown Hartford to Newington Junction station, the busway occupies the north side of Amtrak's New Haven-Springfield Line right of way. That section of the line was once 4 tracks (shared by two separate railroads) and is now two tracks, with the busway occupying the third and fourth track slots. From Newington Junction to its south end at Downtown New Britain station, the busway follows the former Newington Secondary rail line.