Connecticut’s trains have shaped its history for nearly 200 years, carrying people and goods, facilitating economic development, and making it one of the most prosperous places in the United States. Even after a global pandemic brought the world to a halt, and forever changed the way we travel, Connecticut’s passenger rail remains strong: in 2023, nearly 29 million people rode the New Haven Line, a solid rebound representative of a world-class service. However, not all of the New Haven Line is going strong. Most people who ride the line ride along the main portion of it, connecting New York to New Haven, via Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport, and a number of other coastal communities. However,  the New Haven Line also encompasses three branch lines: the New Canaan Branch, the Danbury Branch, and the Waterbury Branch. These branch lines fulfill an important duty, connecting many of Connecticut’s inland communities to everything along the coast and beyond. In 2023, they carried nearly 1 million passengers. Despite their importance, Connecticut’s branch lines are struggling. While, on the aggregate, 2023 ridership on the New Haven Line reached approximately 70% of what it was pre-pandemic, for Connecticut’s three branch lines, ridership was less than 40% of its pre-pandemic levels. But even before the pandemic, the branch lines were struggling. Back in 2016, they carried nearly 2.7 million people, but this figure, nearly three times that of 2023, was seen as so lackluster that it prompted three members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation to write a letter to Metro-North in frustration. In their letter, the congresspeople demanded increased service, hoping that “better service will increase ridership”, and that increased investment will create “a virtuous cycle”. Nearly a decade later, that investment has proven hard to attract. Connecticut’s DOT began studying the electrification of the Danbury Branch, a precursor to improving frequency and speed, back in 2008. Eight years later, their final report called for electrifying the existing line, and extending service to New Milford. But neither came to fruition, even as Connecticut’s fiscal health rebounded, with six straight years of surpluses, and despite a continued and bipartisan push from local leaders. Metro-North itself seems to accept that Connecticut’s branch lines won’t be electrified in the near future, and recently acquired a new set of trains for use on the branch lines that can’t be electrified. Metro-North’s New Haven line map. So in spite of broad political support, and a healthy fiscal environment, why can’t Connecticut’s branch lines attract any new investment? My answer is that there is little population growth and transit-oriented development (TOD) to support it. Increased rail service is a serious, long-term investment. It entails spending large amounts on more infrastructure, which in turn needs more maintenance. Spending vast sums of money on expanding infrastructure for places that aren’t growing makes for some very fuzzy math, especially when you can spend it on places that are actually growing.  Compare the two very distinct markets the New Haven Line serves. Along the main artery of the New Haven Line, numerous cities in Connecticut have led on economic and demographic growth in the 21st century: New Haven has posted steady growth in recent years, and plans to add another 11,000 residents over the next decade; Norwalk’s population growth was among the highest in the state throughout the 2010s; Stamford has been Connecticut’s fastest growing city, and quickly skyrocketed to be the state’s second-largest. Now, compare that to the communities served by the branch lines. Most of the area along the branches are occupied by small towns which have shown minimal growth in recent years. Many of these places, in fact, are quite explicit in their efforts to limit their own growth going forward. New Canaan, which hosts two of the five stations along the eponymous New Canaan Branch, routinely denies new housing development, including much-needed affordable housing. While many communities in Connecticut are weighing TOD that entails the creation of new housing, jobs, and retail, New Canaan is remarkably resistant to it. The town’s planning and zoning board isn’t talking about planning and zoning for TOD, but, in the words of its own chair, instead pondering “if we do pursue any type of transit development”. Not when, not how, but merely if. Things seem to be playing out in a similar manner along much of the Danbury Branch. In Wilton, town officials are engaged in a long-fought legal battle in an effort to stop new housing construction, even after a state court issued a strong ruling against them. The court found Wilton’s case was “not supported by substantial evidence,” was “an abuse of its discretion,” and lacked “fundamental fairness.” Hardly an environment conducive to any growth or investment. Neighboring Ridgefield is embarking on an even bolder venture: proposing a temporary ban on any housing which is multifamily, larger than four units, or requires any zoning change. The town’s hostility to any new housing has basically already achieved this, as the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission is currently sitting on zero such applications. After decades of stagnation, some communities along the Waterbury Branch seem to be less hostile to new housing than the aforementioned communities. In Derby and Ansonia, leaders are aiming to renovate decaying post-industrial brownfields, and have attracted new housing downtown. Similar sentiment exists in Seymour, but has faced a lengthy back-and-forth.  For Connecticut’s branch lines to attract the investment needed to improve service, the communities they serve must demonstrate the willingness to be a partner in this growth, not an obstacle, and that entails making sure Metro-North’s trains stop in places where people need to go. It’s common sense to run a bunch of trains to places where there is a bunch of people, but many of Connecticut’s communities seem to lack this understanding. They demand improved service, while simultaneously denying people the opportunity to live and work near this service. For Connecticut’s branch lines to recover, this needs to change. Angelo Bochanis is a member of the Connecticut Mirror’s Community Editorial Board.