HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — From the port of New London on Long Island Sound north through Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and into Canada, a 390-mile freight rail system linking New England to the rest of the Northeast lacks a key element: a 21st-century rail line in Connecticut.

Elected officials in Connecticut, backed by regional business owners and Genesee & Wyoming Inc., owner of New England Central Railroad, are lobbying federal transportation officials for $8.3 million to upgrade railroad tracks to accommodate heavier freight and move more products to market. New England Central is contributing $2 million.