The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) is alerting riders of the upcoming Shore Line East (SLE) construction schedule that will take effect on Tuesday, September 5, 2023. The construction schedule is needed for the Amtrak Fitter Interlocking Project, which when completed will improve Amtrak’s ability to do maintenance on the tracks with less impact on service. This trackwork is anticipated to be completed before the end of December 2023.
This schedule change impacts the weekday and weekend schedules. Please note that some train departure times have been changed to accommodate this project. On the weekdays, fourteen trains will operate between New Haven Union Station and New London Station, and two trains will operate between New Haven Union Station and Old Saybrook Station. On the weekends, fourteen trains will operate between New Haven Union Station and New London Station. Additionally, more trains are stopping at Madison Station.
"We understand any schedule change can impact our Shore Line East riders. Therefore, we requested that Amtrak expand the number of cross-honor trains through this project to ensure we are meeting the needs of our riders. Thanks to Amtrak's partnership, customers can ride certain Amtrak trains with their normal Shore Line East ticket," said Connecticut Department of Transportation Bureau Chief of Public Transportation Benjamin Limmer. “This project improves reliability and increases rail operation flexibility. We appreciate the patience of SLE riders as this important project gets underway.”
Amtrak’s cross-honoring system allows SLE multi-ride ticket holders to ride a select number of Amtrak trains by utilizing Amtrak’s Ride Reserve program, which can be found here. Passengers must reserve a seat in advance through Amtrak’s mobile app or the Amtrak website. Multi-ride ticket types include SLE Monthly Ticket, SLE Monthly Plus Bus Ticket, Metro-North Railroad (MNR)/SLE Monthly UniRail Ticket, MNR/SLE Weekly UniRail Ticket, and SLE Ten-Trip Ticket.
The temporary expanded Amtrak cross-honor program will include the following trains:
Westbound:
- 95 departs New London Station at 7:40 a.m.
- 93 departs New London Station at 11:00 a.m.
- 173 departs New London Station at 12:43 p.m.
- 137 departs New London Station at 3:33 p.m.
- 177 departs New London Station at 7:16 p.m.
Eastbound:
- 172 departs New Haven Union Station at 12:51 p.m.
- 86 departs New Haven Union Station at 2:10 p.m.
- 176 departs New Haven Union Station at 5:15 p.m.
- 94 departs New Haven Union Station at 7:27 p.m.
- 178 departs New Haven Union Station at 9:42 p.m.
Passengers can find the updated SLE schedule here and are encouraged to visit ShoreLineEast.com for the latest service information. Riders can sign up for alerts sent directly to their phone or email at shorelineeast.com/service-alerts.
SLE passengers are encouraged to pre-purchase their rail tickets before boarding. CTrail passengers may purchase their rail tickets using the CTrail eTix mobile ticketing app at CTrail ticket vending machines in New Haven or Amtrak ticket windows in New Haven, Old Saybrook, and New London (credit and debit cards only).