HARTFORD — Nearly 22,000 riders rode Connecticut's new commuter rail line over the weekend.

Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Monday the strong turnout shows "a sense of excitement about this long-overdue rail service."

His office says there were a total of 21,850 riders over the course of the CTrail Hartford Line's opening weekend —10,300 on Saturday and 11,550 on Sunday. Officials tweeted how the line had exceeded capacity at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Additional trains and buses were deployed.

Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker says people took advantage of the free inaugural service to make trips to numerous activities and ride the rails.

Regular weekday service began on Monday, with the first training leaving New Haven at 4:35 a.m. and the first training leaving Springfield, Massachusetts at 5:23 a.m.