We must not squander a once-in-a-generation opportunity to modernize rail travel along the Northeast Corridor, on plans destined either to fail, or to irreparably harm the historic towns, and estuaries of southeastern Connecticut.

Twice, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a keen supporter of rail travel, called the proposed Kenyon to Saybrook bypass through Old Lyme, “half-baked and harebrained.”

We agree.

We urge you to remove this flawed coastal bypass -- both as a mapped route and as a concept - from the NEC Future Preferred Alternative, and from any further planning by the Federal Railroad Administration along the Northeast Corridor.