The town is seeking public input on the potential return of a passenger rail service connecting New London with communities in the eastern part of the state, into Massachusetts.

A passenger rail service ran from New London through Norwich, Plainfield and Putnam and into Massachusetts until 1971. Today, the Genesee & Wyoming line serves strictly as a commercial use.

Mary Ann Chinatti, Putnam’s economic and community development director, said she is pushing to get Putnam and northeastern Connecticut included in Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor New Haven to Providence study. The Northeast Corridor is the main passenger rail line that runs from Boston to Washington D.C., going through Providence and down along Connecticut’s coast through New Haven.

Amtrak is leading the study to preserve and improve the Northeast Corridor rail capacity, looking at constraints to add future Amtrak or commuter rail services on the two-track railroad between New Haven and Providence, according to the website’s FAQ page.

Chinatti said she believes that the return of the passenger rail line from New London through the Interstate 395 corridor to Worcester, Mass., could reshape the area’s future, lessen the burden of cars on I-395, and attract businesses and tourism in town centers.

She said it would also provide reliable transportation for commuters to get to work, students traveling to college and seniors getting to medical appointments.

The survey on reviving the passenger rail can be completed online through a form on the Northeastern Connecticut Council of Governments website until Saturday.

Chinatti said a PDF of the survey is available on the Putnam town website, and she will be accepting submissions to her email, [email protected], or hard copies dropped off or mailed to the Putnam Municipal Complex at 200 School St. until Aug. 21.

Anyone is welcome to fill out the form, she said.

The website for Amtrak's study also says the study will look at the growing demand for passenger rail service and the proximity of the line to the Long Island Sound shore, which is impacted by severe weather, limiting both speed and capacity. The study has begun and will last two years.

Chinatti said she plans to share the survey results with Amtrak for it to reconsider including the Northeast area in its study.

So far, out of the 469 survey responses, 93% were interested in the return of the passenger rail, as of Aug. 5. About 69% of respondents said they would personally use the passenger rail, with 25% indicating ‘maybe’ and 6% ‘no.’

“I think it would be wonderful for our community because I think there are a lot of people that lack transportation,” said Sheila Frost, general manager of Courthouse Bar and Grille. “Anyone who I have mentioned it to has seemed excited about it.”

Putnam Town Clerk Deana Pajak said she used to commute from Thompson to Worcester for work and that a passenger rail line would be “convenient” and “cut out the hassle of driving.” She said now she would use the line for “fun,” to visit Worcester for the day or make it easier to travel into Boston.

This is not the first discussion of reviving a passenger rail in the state. The idea of establishing a “Central Corridor” passenger rail service from New London, going through Willimantic and Mansfield into Palmer and Amherst, Mass., ending in Brattleboro Vt., has been in the works since the 2000s.

In 2023, the state Department of Transportation completed the Eastern Connecticut Corridor Rail and Transit Feasibility Study, which assessed expanding Shore Line East rail service to Westerly, R.I., adding passenger rail service between New London and Norwich, and other potential improvements.

The effort to bring back the New London to Worcester passenger rail would be the start of a long process, Chinatti said, but she is working to get the ball rolling.

“It won’t get finished if it doesn’t get started,” she said. “I want to get it started.”

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