Waterbury Branch

Waterbury Branch
Metro-North F10 413 in Bridgeport pulling Train 1926.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	Metro-North Railroad
Status	Operational
Locale	Naugatuck River Valley of Connecticut, USA
Termini	Waterbury (North) Bridgeport (South)
Stations	7 (+ 1 limited)
Operation
Opening	1849
Owner	Naugatuck Railroad (1849-1887) NYNH&H (1887-1969) Penn Central (1969-1971) ConnDOT (1971-present)
Operator(s)	Penn Central (1969-1976) Conrail (1976-1983) Metro-North Railroad (1983-present)
Character	Single track, diesel motive power
Rolling stock	GE Genesis P32AC-DM Brookville BL20GH Shoreliner coaches
Technical
Line length	28.5 mi (45.87 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	None
Route map Legend Waterbury Interstate 84 Route 8 Naugatuck Beacon Falls Naugatuck River Route 8 Seymour Ansonia Naugatuck River Derby-Shelton Route 8 Housatonic River Merritt Parkway New Haven Line Devon (abandoned) Housatonic R. Bridge StratfordLimited Bridgeport StamfordLimited Toward New York City

Metro-North Railroad's Waterbury Branch is a branch of the New Haven Line, running north from a junction in the Devon section of Milford to Waterbury. Originally built as the Naugatuck Railroad, it once continued north to Winsted. The part north of Waterbury is now leased from CDOT by the Railroad Museum of New England, which operates excursion trains from Thomaston station; that part is still called the Naugatuck Railroad (reporting mark NAUG). The trackage ends in Torrington but Metro North service on the branch ends at Waterbury. There are conceptual plans to extend service from its current terminus in Waterbury to Hartford via Bristol and New Britain.

Most trains operate as shuttles between Waterbury and Bridgeport; however, the first train departing Waterbury in the morning terminates in Stamford, and its locomotive and coaches continue to Grand Central Terminal as a renumbered train.

Station stops

• Stratford (one AM inbound, one PM run outbound)
• In addition, one morning train continues to Stamford.

The stations on the Waterbury Branch have two major differences in comparison to most other stations in the Metro-North system. None have station houses or ticket machines, making it possible to buy fares on board with no surcharge. Also, except for Waterbury, all stations have low-level platforms (with the exception of Merritt 7 on the Danbury Branch, no other regular stations east of the Hudson have such platforms).

Rolling stock

The Waterbury Branch uses 2008 Brookville BL20GH and GE Genesis P32AC-DM locomotives and Shoreliner passenger coaches. It has also used Mafersa coaches originally purchased for service on Shore Line East. Prior to the arrival of push-pull coaches, the branch used Budd RDC's and SPV-2000's. A typical shuttle consists of three cars.

See also

• Naugatuck Railroad

v t e Metro-North Railroad East of Hudson Harlem Line Hudson Line New Haven Line Danbury Branch New Canaan Branch Waterbury Branch West of Hudson (operated by NJ Transit) Pascack Valley Line Port Jervis Line Non-revenue and Predecessor lines Beacon Line Putnam Line Other Stations Highbridge Facility Hudson Rail Link

v t e Public transport in Connecticut CTTransit buses Hartford New Haven Stamford Waterbury, Meriden, and Wallingford New Britain and Bristol Other bus agencies Bridgeport Estuary Housantonic Middletown Milford Northeast CT Northwest CT Norwalk Southeast Windham Rail lines Metro-North-operated New Haven Line New Canaan Branch Danbury Branch Waterbury Branch Amtrak-operated Shore Line East New Haven – Springfield Shuttle Acela Express Northeast Regional Vermonter Under construction New Haven – Hartford – Springfield commuter rail line Proposed Central Corridor Rail Line Other Connecticut Rail Commuter Council Connecticut DOT Northeast Corridor