New Haven – Springfield Line

New Haven–Springfield Line
Amtrak Shuttle #470 a single coach shuttle awaiting Northeast Regional train #170 from Washington, D.C.
Overview
Type	Inter-city rail
System	Amtrak
Locale	New England
Termini	New Haven Springfield
Stations	8
Services	New Haven–Springfield Shuttle Northeast Regional Vermonter Hartford Line (planned)
Operation
Opened	1844
Owner	Amtrak
Operator(s)	Amtrak
Technical
Line length	60.5 mi (97.4 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map Connecticut River Line 0 mi 0 km Springfield Connecticut River Line Massachusetts Connecticut border Connecticut Southern RR to Suffield 15 mi 24 km Windsor Locks 20 mi 32 km Windsor to Manchester Connecticut Southern RR to Providence & Worcester RR Central New England RR 26 mi 42 km Hartford Pan Am Southern to Waterbury 37 mi 60 km Berlin 44 mi 71 km Meriden 60 mi 97 km Wallingford Northeast Corridor to Boston 63 mi 101 km New Haven Northeast Corridor to Washington This diagram:

The New Haven–Springfield Line is a railroad line owned by Amtrak from New Haven, Connecticut, north to Springfield, Massachusetts. As a branch of the Northeast Corridor at New Haven, it is served by approximately seven daily Regional round trips, some continuing from New Haven to Washington, D.C., along the Corridor and others terminating at New Haven as shuttles. On weekends, there is one train daily to Lynchburg, Virginia. It is also served by the daily Washington–St. Albans, Vermont Vermonter, which heads North from Springfield towards St. Albans Vermont. In 2004, Congress added the New Haven–Springfield Line onto the Northern New England Corridor, one of ten federally designated corridors for potential high-speed rail service.

The line is part of the Inland Route connecting Boston and New York via Hartford, Springfield, and Worcester, in contrast to the "Shore Line" along the Connecticut Shore and through Rhode Island.

The New Haven–Springfield Line was built by the Hartford and New Haven Railroad (H&NH) and began operations in 1844, forming the first all-rail route between Boston and New Haven, with steamship service on Long Island Sound completing service to New York. The Shore Line, today's Northeast Corridor, was completed in 1858, but the Springfield route continued to carry most traffic until the bridge over the Thames River at New London, Connecticut, opened in 1889.