SPRINGFIELD -- Marcello Toro took Monday what he hopes was the first of many trips on CTrail and the Hartford Line from Hartford to Springfield's Union Station.

Toro took the 12:26 p.m. train Monday from Hartford and arrived at 1:05 p.m. - five minutes ahead of schedule - for a 2 p.m. job interview with MGM Springfield at the MassMutual Center.

If he gets his job as a line cook at the $960 million resort casino that opens Aug. 24, Toro said he hopes to use CTrail for his daily commute into work.

"It was great," he said. "It was convenient. It was on time."

His story is as comforting to the ears of Massachusetts and Connecticut politicians and transportation planners advocating Hartford Line commuter service as the clickety-clack of steel wheels on rails.

Visitors to the Springfield Museums said they'd like better signs to help them walk from the train to the Quadrangle.

CTrail and the Hartford Line, built with $760 million in Connecticut and federal funds, is designed to make it easier for workers to get to jobs, to take traffic off Interstate 91 and to encourage developers to build retail, office and residential space near stations on the route.

CTrail began this weekend, with a VIP excursion and ribbon-cutting Friday and free service Saturday and Sunday. The free service drew more than 20,000 riders over the Father's Day weekend.

Downstairs in Union Station's main concourse, riders Aimee Solis and her son, Freddie Solis, bought their tickets for the 1:55 p.m. train out of Springfield. They planned to arrive in Hartford at 2:34. Aimee Solis said she had a doctor's appointment in Hartford.

This Saturday and Sunday, travel will be free on CTrail trains to give passengers a chance to try it out.

Normally, she would go to the appointment by bus, but there are too many stops, she said.

"This is cheaper," Solis said. "I hope it's faster and more convenient."

A trip to Hartford from Springfield costs $6, or $3 for seniors. A one-way trip to New Haven from Springfield costs $12.75 and $6.25 for seniors. Timetables and a more detailed fare schedule is listed below.

The trip from Springfield to New Haven can take as little as 81 minutes. The trip to Hartford takes just over 34 minutes.

Between the new CTrail and Amtrak, trains will provide 34 daily trips on weekdays, including 11 Springfield-to-New Haven and 12 New Haven-to-Springfield trips.

There will be 12 trips on Saturdays (eight each Springfield-to-New Haven and New Haven-to-Springfield), and 13 trips on Sundays and holidays (nine each Springfield-New Haven in both directions).

Tuesday's announcement came just a few days before CTrail begins service from Springfield south to Hartford and New Haven this weekend.

Last week, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and others announced that the service will expand north of Springfield at this time next year. Massachusetts will offer two new northbound and two new southbound trains a day to Holyoke, Northampton and Greenfield.