Maybrook Line offers opportunity

New vitality, much-needed housing, and more

Our first guest post comes from Matthew Silber. We will publish occasional guest posts, and welcome submissions of about 800 words, with photographs. Please read our About page before sending a submission to thetraincampaign@gmail.com.

Through quiet woods and over bubbling streams, a lonely railroad snakes across Fairfield County, Connecticut. Few motorists passing under its bridges even notice it. Owned by the Housatonic Railroad Company, this track is called the Maybrook Line, and it is, to most residents of the communities through which it winds, a mere curio of a bygone age. Yet this forgotten track is not a useless anachronism. Beneath its rust lies a pathway not just into the past, but into Connecticut’s future. It offers these communities, and the state at large, a track into the future. The Maybrook Line isn’t just an artifact—it’s an opportunity. By reviving it for passenger service and pairing it with smart zoning reforms, we can tackle Connecticut’s housing crisis, ease traffic congestion, and lay the tracks for a more sustainable future.

To understand the potential of the Maybrook Line, let’s examine the broader challenges facing Connecticut. Like much of the country, Connecticut faces a cost-of-living crisis driven by a housing shortage. With demand far outpacing supply, home prices have soared, contributing directly to rising homelessness and poverty. Restrictive zoning laws lie at the heart of this crisis, as they artificially limit the supply of housing. The Maybrook Line passes through towns where zoning codes largely restrict housing to single-family homes on large lots. In addition, these local regulations strictly delineate commercial and residential zones. This kind of rigid, top-down government control of land use artificially chokes housing construction and entrenches automobile dependency.

Daily life in these communities is dictated by the car. To get groceries, socialize with friends, or transport family members, one needs a car every time. This enforced automobile dependence not only inconveniences individuals, but also clogs roads, fuels carbon emissions, and burdens taxpayers with endless maintenance projects. Nowhere are the negative results of these planning choices more apparent than I-84 at rush hour.

What if there was another way? What if you could walk from your home to a station, and sip coffee as your train glides past the honking steel glacier of I-84? Instead of mind-numbing bumper-to-bumper traffic, you could arrive at work refreshed and return home in a better mood for your family. You could have lower local taxes and greater access to restaurants, concerts, and cultural offerings. When we already live with high taxes, pollution, and inconvenience, why not explore alternatives?

This is where the Maybrook Line comes in. While it currently lacks the capacity for passenger service, it forms a link between Metro-North’s Danbury and Waterbury branches. By retrofitting the Maybrook Line for passenger service and constructing new stations along its route, Connecticut could connect three underutilized railroad branches into a wider rail network, improving transportation options for thousands of commuters and daytrippers. However, for the service to be financially self-sustaining, reforms to stimulate transit-oriented development along its route would be essential.

This rendering shows what might be developed around a new station.

Transit-oriented development (TOD) refers to community planning that centers access to public transportation. For a revitalized Maybrook Line to support itself without burdening state taxpayers, areas around newly constructed stations could be rezoned for greater density to provide a sufficient ridership base. In this way, Connecticut can tackle its housing shortage while providing alternatives to car-centered development. Thoughtful zoning changes can allow for modest density while preserving local charm, giving residents the freedom to live, work, and shop without depending on a car, and facilitating the use of passenger service along the railroad.

To provide an example, let’s say a town along the Maybrook route adopts a zoning ordinance for an area within 800 meters of a planned station. Within this zone, new regulations could allow for mixed-use buildings with residential and retail units, a sensible easing of height and setback restrictions, and reductions in minimum lot and unit sizes. To preserve community character, prohibitions should remain on structures like drive-thrus, industrial sites, and self-storage facilities. These common-sense zoning adjustments can create vibrant, pedestrian-friendly hubs where the Maybrook Line becomes a natural part of daily life—sustained by rider revenue, not taxpayer dollars—while also helping to ease the state's housing shortage.

Local residents and zoning councils may not be thrilled to hear of this proposal. Change is not always easy, and it’s understandable that people are protective of the character of their hometown. But these adjustments aren’t about destroying what makes these communities special, they’re about making them more livable and affordable.

Rezoning around new stations wouldn’t just make the Maybrook Line viable for commuters; it would directly benefit existing town residents. Greater density means a lower tax burden for residents. Single-family zoning is expensive for towns because sprawling infrastructure costs more to maintain while supporting fewer taxpayers. By contrast, mixed-use and moderate-density development expands the tax base, spreading costs across more people and businesses, which helps keep taxes down. Additionally, many assume that density means paving over green space, but the opposite is true. Single-family zoning on large lots eats up much more land than compact housing.

Words like “density” and “mixed-use development” sound foreboding, but what they really mean is convenience, connection, and sustainability.

To summarize, I propose the following: The CTDOT should conduct a feasibility study on reactivating passenger service along the Maybrook Line. If the study confirms its viability, the state can begin upgrading the physical infrastructure while collaborating with local communities to address concerns about the project’s impact. Concurrently, zoning councils can enact targeted zoning reforms adjacent to planned stations to support ridership, ensuring that the investment in this rail line is self-sustaining for years to come.

I realize that some may dismiss this as too ambitious, too complicated, too old-fashioned, even. After all, am I really suggesting that Connecticut revive a transportation system that peaked in the late 19th century? Yes, I am. To unlock its future, Connecticut can look to its past. By revitalizing forgotten infrastructure and embracing common-sense transit and zoning policies, we can build a state that is more affordable, connected, and sustainable—one where people can once again buy the ticket to ride.

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