Stamford Transportation Center

Stamford Amtrak inter-city rail station Metro-North New Haven Line commuter rail station Shore Line East commuter rail station
A View North at the Main Station Building.
Station statistics
Address	490 Washington Boulevard and 30 South State Street, Stamford, CT 06902
Lines	Amtrak:   Acela Express   Northeast Regional   Vermonter ConnDOT:   Shore Line East Metro-North:   New Haven Line   New Canaan Branch   Danbury Branch
Connections	CT Transit Stamford: 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 23, 31, 32, 33, 34, 41, 42, 43, 44, I-BUS Express, Stamford Commuter Connection - Central, Bulls Head, North, Route 1 East Greyhound
Platforms	2 island platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks	5
Baggage check	no
Other information
Opened	1987
Electrified	12,500V (AC) overhead catenary
Accessible
Code	STM (Amtrak) ZTF (IATA)
Traffic
Passengers (2006)	1.928 million  18% (Metro-North)
Passengers (2010)	355,232[1]  5.2% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station New York City toward Washington, D.C. Acela Express New Haven toward Boston South Station New Rochelle toward Newport News or Lynchburg Northeast Regional Bridgeport toward Boston South Station or Springfield New York City toward Washington, D.C. Vermonter Bridgeport toward St. Albans CDOT Terminus Shore Line East Bridgeport toward New London Metro-North Railroad Old Greenwich toward Grand Central New Haven Line Noroton Heights toward New Haven – State Street Terminus New Canaan Branch Glenbrook toward New Canaan Harlem – 125th Street toward Grand Central Harlem – 125th Street toward Grand Central Danbury Branch (limited) South Norwalk toward Danbury

The Stamford Metro-North Railroad station, officially known as the Stamford Transportation Center serves commuters both leaving and entering Stamford, Connecticut via the New Haven Line. Some Amtrak Northeast Corridor trains also stop at Stamford.

The station is 33 miles from Grand Central Terminal. Just north of the station is the split for the New Canaan Branch. A few Shore Line East trains terminate at Stamford during the morning rush hour, and originate there in the evening.

Continental Airlines codeshares with Amtrak to provide service out of Stamford station to the train station at Continental's Northeast hub, Newark Liberty International Airport. As such, the train station has the IATA Airport Code (as an IATA-indexed train station) ZTF.

Downtown Stamford is directly north of the station.

Contents 1 Ridership 2 Rail services 3 Criticism 4 History 5 Layout 6 Platform and track configuration 7 Gallery 8 Within walking distance 8.1 Entertainment and culture 8.2 Offices 8.3 Other Downtown locations 9 See also 10 References 11 External links

Ridership

A total of 30 percent more of the Metro-North riders who use the station are getting off the morning trains to go to work in Stamford than the number leaving for elsewhere. The number of commuters riding into the station in the morning doubled in the decade up to 2006 (2,155 in 1996 and 4,226 in 2006). More office space is being built near the train station to allow commuters to avoid Interstate 95, which typically clogs up at rush hour in Stamford. The Royal Bank of Scotland is building a $400 million office complex due to be complete in 2008 and within 200 yards of the station. The building will have room for 1,400 traders.^[2]

Stamford is the busiest New Haven Line station outside of New York City. As of August 2006, weekday commuter ridership for Metro-North was 7,147 and there are 2,215 parking spaces.^[3] That's up from an average of 6,100 weekday inbound boardings in 2001 — 2,942 during peak times and 3,158 during off-peak times.^[4]

The station, along with the downtown Greenwich railroad station, is receiving increasing numbers of "reverse commuters" who work in Stamford but live in New York City. Reverse commuting has doubled from 1997 to 2007 and increased 150 percent since 1990, with 1,900 reverse commuters as of 2007. Younger employees, often single and with enough money to live in Manhattan, for instance, sometimes prefer to live there, although more housing and nightlife have come to Downtown Stamford in recent years. Metro-North has added trains and express service to serve these commuters. As financial companies move to Stamford from Manhattan, some employees often become reverse commuters. Larger companies that are farther away than a few minutes walk from the station routinely provide shuttle service for their workers.^[5] Of the twelve Connecticut stations served by Amtrak, Stamford was the second busiest in FY2010, boarding or detraining an average of nearly 1000 passengers daily.^[1]

Rail services

Stamford receives very frequent rail service on the New Haven Line. During peak hours, trains at Stamford come in intervals as little as three or seven minutes apart.^[6] Reverse commute trains during rush hours also operate relatively frequently, at intervals of ten to twenty minutes.^[6] Off-peak trains in both directions arrive at Stamford every thirty to forty minutes, but usually within a half-hour of each other.^[6]

Due to ridership growth in recent years, eastern Connecticut rail service provider Shore Line East announced on 19 March 2007 that it would extend some of its trains to Stamford station during peak hours.^[7] To coincide with the extension of this service, Metro-North added another five trains on the New Haven Line to cope with the increases in passenger demand at Stamford.^[7]

Along with Metro-North service, trains run by national service provider Amtrak stop at Stamford station. The Acela Express, the only high-speed rail service in the United States; the Northeast Regional, providing local service along the Northeast Corridor, on which Stamford is a vital station; and the Vermonter, the only train that goes to Vermont and splits at New Haven, all stop at Stamford station. Stamford is now the second-busiest Amtrak station in Connecticut, after New Haven's Union Station.^[8]

Criticism

In 1987, the New York Times published a review of the then-new Stamford Transportation Center by architecture critic Paul Goldberger. The station was criticized for "a harshness almost unequaled in contemporary architecture" as well as for cost overruns and many functional failings, including the lack of shelter for the track platforms. The route from the cross-tracks waiting room to the platform was so long and indirect that passengers who waited indoors until a train's arrival was announced could not get to the platform in time to board it.^[9]

A complete renovation of the station in the early 2000s attempted to address these problems. The two platforms were made island platforms, capable of serving four tracks. Added features included platform canopies, stairs and escalators directly from the waiting room for the tracks, and a new platform crossover, connecting to the parking garage.

History

Regular daily train service began in Stamford on January 1, 1849. In 1867, a depot was built one block east of the present location. The railroad at that time consisted of two tracks and passed through town on ground level (crossing the streets at grade). In the mid-1890s two more tracks were added to the line and most crossings were elevated and bridged, so the 1867 depot, shown in the picture below, was razed and replaced.^[10]

Layout

The main station concourse straddles the tracks of the Northeast Corridor, and contains the ticket booth, a passenger waiting area, newsstands, a shoe-shine spot, a Dunkin' Donuts, and Java Joe's. Downstairs below the platform level in the tunnel there is an MTA police station, Juan's Barbershop, a watch and shoe repair store, a Subway restaurant and The Cellar Wine and Beer Liquor Store (home of BeerTrainFriday.com) There is also a Greyhound/Peter Pan office and CT Transit Customer Information Center. Stairs and escalators lead to the platform level. Stamford has four high-level platforms, which give access to four tracks. A fifth track lies between the express tracks, so that Amtrak and peak-hour Metro-North trains not stopping there may bypass the station safely at full speed. On the south side of the station, across an access street, is a large parking garage connected to the concourse by one pedestrian bridge and directly connected to the east end of the platforms by a second bridge (both bridges connect to Level 4 of the garage).

A bus station is located just to the north of the train station, underneath a large bridge carrying Interstate 95. Taxis, often lined up by the dozens, pick up passengers at a stand on the south side of the station. A car rental agency is located southwest of the station building.

Platform and track configuration

This station has two high-level 10-car-long side platforms and two high-level 12-car-long island platforms. The northern side platform, adjacent to Track 5, and the northern island platform, adjacent to Tracks 3 and 5, are generally used by New Canaan Branch trains, by westbound or Manhattan-bound New Haven Line trains, and by southbound Amtrak trains. The southern island platform, adjacent to Tracks 2 and 4, and the southern side platform, adjacent to Track 4, are generally used by eastbound or outbound New Haven Line trains and by northbound Amtrak trains.

The New Haven Line has five tracks at this location. Track 1, not adjacent to any of the platforms, is used only by express trains.

Gallery

Within walking distance

The South End of Stamford is on the southern side of the station and is currently a poor neighborhood about to undergo massive redevelopment already approved by city land-use authorities. The West Side of Stamford begins a couple of blocks to the northwest of the station, across the Mill River, and is considered the city's most dangerous section.^[11]

All of Downtown Stamford, including corporate offices, entertainment and cultural venues, shopping and restaurants, is within walking distance of the train station, almost all of it less than a mile and all of it to the north, across Interstate 95. The most direct and well-traveled access is along Washington Boulevard (at the west end of the station). Direct access is also along Atlantic Street (on the east end of the station; past Broad street it becomes Bedford Street). The major east-west streets parallel to the tracks and to Interstate 95 are Tresser Boulevard (a block north) and Broad Street (three and sometimes two blocks north).

These two streets, immediately north of the station, have narrow sidewalks and are less pedestrian-friendly than Tresser Boulevard, a block north: The northeast exit from the station joins with I-95 Exit 7 to become South State Street, a one-way street running east, between the railroad tracks and Interstate 95. North State Street is a one-way road running west that is just north of the highway. Tresser Boulevard is a block north of North State Street and runs parallel to it.

Entertainment and culture

Entertainment and cultural venues include Rich Forum (music, dance and theater) on Atlantic Street and Tresser Boulevard; the Palace Theatre (music and theater), farther north on Atlantic Street; Avon Theatre (arthouse movies), still farther north; Columbus Park (summer concerts); Bowtie Majestic and Bowtie Landmark cinemas. The city's large public library, Ferguson Library, is at the corner of Atlantic Street and Broad Street. A Starbucks coffee house in the same building has direct access to the Ferguson's used book store.

Offices

The only major office building near the south side of the tracks is Metro Center, operational headquarters of Thompson Corporation. UBS AG North American headquarters is immediately north of the station (with additional offices in One Stamford Forum on Tresser Boulevard). Royal Bank of Scotland North American headquarters (across the street from UBS) has recently been completed and now serves as the central office for all North American Investment Banking operations. Purdue Pharma headquarters is on Tresser Boulevard. Several corporate headquarters, including Xerox are not in the downtown area and not within walking distance.

Other Downtown locations

Also on Tresser Boulevard is the south entrance of Stamford Town Center shopping mall and Government Center (at the intersection with Washington Boulevard), the city government headquarters. The Stamford campus of the University of Connecticut is about three blocks north of Government Center on Washington Boulevard and Broad Street. In addition to the mall (in which Macy's, Barnes & Noble and Saks Fifth Avenue are located) large, "big box" stores downtown include Target (across the street from UConn-Stamford) and Burlington Coat Factory. There are no museums in Downtown Stamford. Restaurants and bars are located throughout the downtown area, with concentrations around Columbus Park, Summer Street, Bedford Street and Atlantic Street.

See also

• Connecticut Rail Commuter Council is the official state advocate for commuters and brings station problems to the attention of officials.

References

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Stamford_(Metro-North_station) Stamford (Metro-North station)] at Wikimedia Commons

• Metro-North Railroad Web page for the Stamford station
• List of upcoming Metro-North train arrival and departure times and track assignments from MTA
• Fix My Station Photo Campaign Web page for the Stamford station
• The Subway Nut Web page for the Stamford station
• Stamford Amtrak-Metro North-Shore Line East Station (USA Rail Guide - Train Web)

• Amtrak – Stations – Stamford, CT
• Greyhound info
• Washington Boulevard entrance from Google Maps Street View
• entrance south of tracks from Google Maps Street View
• Station Building on State Street from Google Maps Street View