track maintenance project required single-tracking of sections of the line, and CTDOT lacked sufficient functional locomotives as the aging fleet was sent out for refurbishment. Three weekday round trips were reverted from bus to train in January 2019 when one locomotive returned from refurbishment, though additional issues were expected during a second summer of track work in 2019. Full service was restored on August 5, 2019. By that time, ridership had fallen by 25 percent, averaging 1,340 weekday riders and 767 weekend riders. On March 16, 2020, weekday service began operating on a reduced schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic. Cross-honoring of tickets on Amtrak trains was suspended that June. Weekday service was expanded from 8 to 11.5 round trips (compared to 18 pre-COVID round trips) on July 26, 2021, with all trains running to New London. Cross-honoring resumed on September 27, 2021. Electrification and track work on Track 6 at New London took place from November 2021 to April 2022. This allowed all-electric service using M8 railcars to begin on May 24, 2022. Shore Line East ridership only reached about 25% of pre-pandemic ridership by mid-2022 – compared to 40% to 72% for other rail lines in the state – which was attributed to previous riders largely being white-collar workers who shifted to remote work. Proposed expansion In April 2012, state officials released a report detailing possible sites for an infill station in East Lyme. Four sites were analyzed – two near downtown Niantic and two at Rocky Neck State Park. (Niantic station had previously been a stop on the Clamdigger.) As part of a 2015 bonding proposal made by then-governor Malloy, $750,000 was to be allocated for a new station at Niantic. The possibility of extending service eastward has also been considered. In a 2001 report examining commuter rail for Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) considered an extension of Shore Line East to via (effectively restoring the Clamdigger service). Ultimately, MBTA Commuter Rail service, which already ran to Providence as part of the Providence/Stoughton Line, was extended southward instead (although only to ). However, both RIDOT and SLE have long-term plans to extend their services to meet at Westerly. Extending SLE service would require negotiations with the US Coast Guard, the Marine Trades Association, and other stakeholders for increased use of the Thames River Bridge and the Mystic River Bridge. As part of Malloy's