HARTFORD—U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Friday held a conference at the Windsor train station to highlight the urgent need for significant increases in rail funding, particularly for the Northeast Corridor (NEC), so we can build a faster, more reliable rail system to improve commutes for Connecticut riders and create jobs. Murphy and Blumenthal were joined today by the Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Joseph Giulietti and Windsor Mayor Don Trinks.

"The future of this town and the future of our state is tied to our ability to move people faster on these rails to-and-from Connecticut, to New York, to Boston, and to parts beyond…The present is the work that Senator Blumenthal and I are doing to try to make sure that we have the money necessary to make transformational investments in Connecticut rail,” said Murphy said on the importance of building a fast, reliable rail system across the Northeast Corridor.

On infrastructure negotiations, Murphy said: “Dick and I have spent most of this last week in intense conversations with our colleagues, with the White House, and with the Department of Transportation making the case that if we're going to spend $4 trillion on an infrastructure bill in this country, we better get high-speed rail for the Northeast. We better fundamentally change the experiences of commuters, the experiences of businesses that use the rail line here.”

On the bipartisan infrastructure framework, Murphy said: "The bipartisan agreement that several of our colleagues reached, supported by the president, envisions about $30 billion being dedicated to rail in the Northeast. Now that's a lot of money. But the ugly truth is—because we've ignored this rail corridor for so long—the number of projects necessary to just fix what's broken equals $40 billion. And so if you really want to get high-speed rail, you really want to dramatically reduce the amount of time that it takes to get from Hartford into New York City, then we need to do better than what's in the bipartisan agreement. And so those are the conversations that Senator Blumenthal and I are having.”

Murphy continued: "We're not shy to tell you that this is one of, if not our top, priority in these discussions going into next week and the week following: to get as big a number for rail improvements in Connecticut and the Northeast as is possible. And so, he and I spent a good deal of yesterday on the phone with the White House, we both talked to Secretary Buttigieg multiple times. We have been building a coalition inside the Senate to push for increased rail funding, and we're doing it because we know that more rail funding equals more jobs. More rail funding equals more good housing opportunities for people here in Connecticut.”

Murphy concluded: “Almost every other high-income nation has this high-speed rail, the United States of America doesn't. This is our opportunity. This infrastructure bill we're debating right now is our chance. And what makes it so exciting to be part of this delegation is that we work together, we don't make decisions by ourselves. And so, Senator Blumenthal and I've been working this issue hard.”

Murphy has been a vocal advocate for the inclusion of significant increases in rail funding for the NEC during the U.S. Senate’s ongoing infrastructure negotiations, including supporting the Northeast Corridor Commission’s CONNECT NEC 2035 plan to increase investment in the Northeast Corridor.

A full transcript of Murphy’s remarks can be found below:

"Thank you very much for joining us here today. My name is Chris Murphy, I have the honor of representing Connecticut in the United States Senate. Really pleased to be organizing this event today with Senator Blumenthal joined here today by Commissioner Giulietti and Mayor Trinks. 

"We also have a number of Windsor town elected and Civil Service officials here, as well as the team that is working very hard on constructing a new facility here at the Windsor train station. I want to thank O&G and others involved in this project.

“This is an example of what's to come in Connecticut if we continue to invest in rail transit. You have new housing popping up all around this station, full to the brim with renters and commuters who love being able to live right next to the train station. As we continue to build new facilities as more trains use this line, you will see more residential development, you will see more commercial development, you will see more companies from all over the world interested in coming here to Windsor. 

"The future of this town and the future of our state is tied to our ability to move people faster on these rails to and from Connecticut, to New York, to Boston, and to parts beyond. That's our future. The present is the work that Senator Blumenthal and I are doing to try to make sure that we have the money necessary to make transformational investments in Connecticut rail.

“The time for incremental changes to rail quality is in the past. We need to be thinking big right now. We need to be thinking about dramatically lowering the amount of time that it takes you to get from Hartford to New York City. We need to be thinking about dramatically increasing the number of trains that come through here every day. Our economic future relies on it.

"So, Dick and I have spent most of this last week in intense conversations with our colleagues, with the White House, and with the Department of Transportation making the case that if we are going to spend $4 trillion on an infrastructure bill in this country, we better get high speed rail for the Northeast. We better fundamentally change the experiences of commuters, the experiences of businesses that use the rail line here.

"The bipartisan agreement that several of our colleagues reached, supported by the President, envisions about $30 billion being dedicated to rail in the Northeast. Now that's a lot of money. But the ugly truth is because we've ignored this rail corridor for so long, the number of projects necessary to just fix what's broken equals $40 billion. 

"And so if you really want to get high-speed rail, if you really want to dramatically reduce the amount of time that it takes to get from Hartford into New York City, then we need to do better than what's in the bipartisan agreement. And so those are the conversations that Senator Blumenthal and I are having. 

"We're not shy to tell you that this is one of, if not our top, priority in these discussions going into next week and the week following: to get as big a number for rail improvements in Connecticut and the Northeast as is possible. And so, he and I spent a good deal of yesterday on the phone with the White House, we both talked to Secretary Buttigieg multiple times. We have been building a coalition inside the Senate to push for increased rail funding, and we're doing it because we know that more rail funding equals more jobs. More rail funding equals more good housing opportunities for people here in Connecticut.

“And before I turn it over to Senator Blumenthal, let me tell you what we're talking about. The commissioner will talk about the governor, his plan to decrease travel times from places like Hartford, New Haven into New York City. They're talking about big changes, right, talking about reducing the time of travel from New Haven into the city by 25 minutes. That can't happen without major federal investment. The governor's plan is the right plan, but it needs federal investment. We want to double the number of trains that run up and down this line. That can happen without major federal investment. We want direct trains that go from Hartford, without having to get off and back on into New York City - can't happen without federal investment. 

"But all of it is possible. It's possible to double the number of trains, it's possible to have direct rides into New York, it's possible to cut the transit time into the city from central Connecticut and the New Haven area by a half an hour or forty-five minutes. All of that's possible, but only if we convince our colleagues, the White House to increase the amount of money going into rail. 

"The report released yesterday, called NEC 2035, shows the path over the next 15 years on how much money needs to be spent in order to deliver these changes. Over the first 10 years, the numbers big - about $90 billion. We're gonna put the press on our colleagues, on the White House to get to that number, or as close as possible, so that we can start investing in the governor's plan and we can start dramatically changing the experience that people have on the rail line. 

"This is something we've been envisioning for decades. The rest of the world has left us behind. Almost every other high-income nation has this high-speed rail, the United States of America doesn't. This is our opportunity. This infrastructure bill we're debating right now is our chance. 

"And what makes it so exciting to be part of this delegation is that we work together, we don't make decisions by ourselves. And so, Senator Blumenthal and I've been working this issue hard and I want to introduce him to say a few words about our effort.”

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