Rowayton (Metro-North station)

Rowayton
Location 299 Rowayton Avenue
at 1 Belmont Place,
Norwalk, CT 06853
Coordinates 41°04′43″N 73°26′44″W / 41.07851°N 73.445535°WCoordinates: 41°04′43″N 73°26′44″W / 41.07851°N 73.445535°W
Line(s)
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 4
Connections Norwalk Transit District: 12
Construction
Parking 330 spaces
Other information
Fare zone 16
Electrified 12,500V (AC) overhead catenary
Traffic
Passengers (2006) 146,120[1] Steady 0%
Services
Preceding station   Metro-North Railroad   Following station
New Haven Line

The Rowayton Metro-North Railroad station is one of three New Haven Line stations serving the residents of Norwalk, Connecticut. It is located in the neighborhood of Rowayton, from which it derives its name.

Rowayton is about 39 miles (63 km) from Grand Central Terminal, and the average travel time from Grand Central is 60 minutes, though this varies depending on run and time of day.

Nineteenth-century artist and humanitarian Vincent Colyer helped to get the station built.[2]

Parking

The station has 330 parking spaces, all owned by the state.[3]

In April 2007, the Sixth Taxing District commissioners, acting under a demand by the state Department of Transportation to change the system, decided to switch the parking permit-granting procedure so that 375[4] annual permit holders (expanded in April 2007 to 397) would be given preference for new permits. Under the new system, permit holders go to the Rowayton Community Center on the third Saturday in June and reapply.[5]

Under a system in place for the previous 30 years,[5] Rowayton commuters received parking permits on a first-come, first-served basis. Every June, commuters would camp out overnight to guarantee a place in line to get a permit. Those too far back in line would go on a waiting list.[4] As of April 2007, about 50 commuters were on the waiting list. In that month the commission expanded the annual permits from 375 to 397, removing 22 monthly permits the district had been selling on a monthly basis.[5]

On March 12, 2008, in a meeting of the Sixth Taxing District, an expansion of permit parking by 30 spaces to a total of 428 was approved by the taxing district commissioners. [6]

Platform and track configuration

3 ■New Haven Line for Grand Central
1 ■New Haven Line no stop
■Northeast Corridor no stop
2 ■New Haven Line no stop
■Northeast Corridor no stop
4 ■New Haven Line for New Haven – State Street

This station has two slightly offset high-level side platforms, each six cars long. The northern platform, adjacent to Track 3, is generally used by westbound trains. The southern platform, adjacent to Track 4, is generally used by eastbound trains.

The New Haven Line has four tracks at this location. The two inner tracks, not adjacent to either platform, are used only by express trains.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Using 260 weekdays in a year multiplied by number of weekday passengers (562)
  2. ↑ Klein, Lauren, "Couple transforms old barn into new home", article in The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut, January 16, 2007 ("Colyer, a Darien resident, was a successful artist, a prominent figure in the Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant administrations and instrumental in bringing a railroad station to Rowayton."), accessed via NewsBank Web site, November 16, 2007
  3. ↑ "Task 2: Technical Memorandum parking Inventory and Utilization: Final Report" submitted by Urbitran Associates Inc. to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, "Table 1: New Haven Line Parking Capacity and Utilization", page 6, July 2003
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chamoff, Lisa, "Rowayton debates whether to defy DOT on parking", news article in The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut, Norwalk Edition, March 15, 2007, pp A9, A10
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Chamoff, Lisa, "No more lining up in Rowayton: Officials switch on station parking permit system", news article in The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut, Norwalk Edition, April 12, 2007, pp 1, A4
  6. ↑ Francis X., Fay Jr. (2008-03-13). "The Hour". 6th District approves expanded parking at RR station (The Hour Publishing Company).

External links

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