The DOT said the FRA agreed in November to allow the department to use the coaches without the accessible bathrooms in the interim period until new bathrooms were installed.
A member of the disability community brought the issue to the organization’s attention, said executive director Gretchen Knauff. Her complaint contends that the state’s current proposed solution — placing accessible, portable bathrooms at train stations — “fails to address the lack of accessible bathrooms on the trains.”
“Our objective isn’t to deny everybody the use of a bathroom,” Knauff said Tuesday. “It’s just to make sure there is a substantially equal opportunity for people with disabilities to use a bathroom.”The DOT has installed fully accessible portable restrooms at five Hartford Line stations that did not have them — Berlin, Meriden, Wallingford, Windsor and Windsor Locks — and new signs that make clear which cars will have available restrooms.
Despite the lack of bathrooms, the DOT said they do not expect the FRA’s decision to significantly reduce the number of travelers on the new line.“We do not expect a significant impact on ridership, as this will be only temporary. But of course, time will tell,” the DOT said Tuesday. All Amtrak trains — which comprise half of the Hartford Line — have on-board, accessible restrooms available for passengers to use during their trips.
Commissioner James Redeker said in a news release that the DOT planned to modify the bathrooms of the older coaches Connecticut is leasing from Massachusetts for the Hartford Line. In the meantime, the FRA approved an interim ADA “exception in the regulations for older coaches in intercity service,” the news release said.“However, the FRA reversed this decision days before the launch of the Hartford Line, and the bathrooms must now remain locked until the modifications are complete and one accessible restroom per consist is available,” the release said.
