Old Saybrook station

Old Saybrook

Old Saybrook Station in March 2011
Location 455 Boston Post Road
Old Saybrook, Connecticut
Coordinates 41°18′01″N 72°22′37″W / 41.3004°N 72.3770°W / 41.3004; -72.3770Coordinates: 41°18′01″N 72°22′37″W / 41.3004°N 72.3770°W / 41.3004; -72.3770
Line(s) Northeast Corridor
Connecticut Valley Railroad
Platforms 1 side platform
1 island platform
Tracks 3
Connections Estuary Transit District
Construction
Parking 324 free spaces (Shore Line East)
53 free spaces (Amtrak)
Paid private lot
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Station code OSB
History
Opened 1873
Rebuilt November 1, 2002[1]
Electrified 25,000V (AC) overhead catenary
Traffic
Passengers (2015) 60,833[2] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station
Northeast Regional
ConnDOT
toward Stamford
Shore Line East
Terminus

Old Saybrook is a regional rail station located in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. It is served by both Amtrak Northeast Regional intercity trains and Shore Line East commuter service.

Service

Two Northeast Regional trains at Old Saybrook

Located on the Northeast Corridor, the busiest passenger railway in the United States, Old Saybrook station serves some of the rail services that pass through the station. Most trains on Amtrak's Northeast Regional train line stop at Old Saybrook. No high-speed Acela Express trains serve the station but some stop at the following southbound and northbound stations, New Haven and New London, respectively. However, all Shore Line East commuter rail trains stop at Old Saybrook; it serves as the eastern terminus for some trains.[3] (New London is the eastern terminus of the line, with approximately half terminating there.)

Old Saybrook features a common track setup, with one island platform and one side platform. Unlike the two-track commuter-rail-only stations on the 81.6 km (50.7 mile)[4] stretch of the Northeast Corridor between New Haven and New London, there are three tracks at Old Saybrook, in order to handle terminal trains on Shore Line East.[4]

History

1915 postcard of Saybrook Junction station

The "V" shaped wood frame station at Saybrook Junction, constructed in 1873 by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, originally served that company as well as the Connecticut Valley Railroad. Passengers of both lines used separate platforms but shared the waiting room.[5]

In the mid-1980s, Amtrak leased 5 acres (2.0 ha) of land around the station for the Saybrook Junction Marketplace development. It was one of the first times that Amtrak offered a long-term lease to a private entity to encourage transit-oriented development around a station.[5]

In 2002, a $2.6 million project added high-level platforms and a pedestrian bridge, making the station fully handicapped accessible.[5] The new platforms opened on November 1, 2002.[1]

Parking

The new parking area photographed in December 2016

By the mid-2000s, ridership increases rendered the station's 137-space free parking lot for Shore Line East riders insufficient, causing commuters to park in the adjacent Saybrook Junction Marketplace parking lot and along roads in town. In November 2011, the Marketplace began charging a fee for commuters to park in their lot.[6]

In March 2013, local officials announced plans for a state-funded 200-space parking lot west of North Main Street between the Upper Cemetery and the tracks.[7] By September 2013, construction was planned to begin on the 3.6 acres (1.5 ha) site in late 2014.[8] The state bought the land for $1.577 million in March 2014. In July 2014, the town received a $999,900 state grant to add sidewalks to North Main Street to improve pedestrian access to the station.[9] The new parking lot was finished in December 2015, but opening was delayed because the handicapped-accessible ramps from the lot to the station were not yet finished. After a deal was brokered for the temporary use of handicapped spaces belonging to the Saybrook Station development, the 199-space lot opened on February 4, 2016.[10][11] The new lot increased Shore Line East parking to 324 spaces and allowed overnight parking for the first time.[12]

Transit connections

Notes

  1. 1 2 Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. p. 81. ISBN 9780942147087.
  2. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2015, State of Connecticut" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  3. ↑ Shore Line East/Westbound timetable Shore Line East Retrieved 2007-07-22
  4. 1 2 Amtrak - Old Saybrook, CT TrainWeb Retrieved 2007-07-22
  5. 1 2 3 "Old Saybrook, CT (OSB)". Great American Stations. Amtrak.
  6. ↑ Wilson, Jerome (November 26, 2011). "Commuters Howl About Paying for Parking at the Old Saybrook Railroad Station". Valley News Now. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  7. ↑ Wilson, Jerome (March 11, 2013). "200 New Parking Spaces to Be Added at the Old Saybrook Railroad Station". Valley News Now. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Public Information Meeting Concerning Parking Expansion at the Old Saybrook Shore Line East Railroad Station off North Main Street" (Press release). Connecticut Department of Transportation. September 23, 2013.
  9. ↑ Coffey, Becky (July 30, 2014). "Enabling a Stroll to Saybrook Station". The Day. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Thursday: Lt. Gov. Wyman Attends Events in Old Saybrook and Cheshire" (Press release). Office of Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman. February 4, 2016.
  11. ↑ Coffey, Becky (February 9, 2016). "New Old Saybrook Train Station Parking Lot Now Open". Shore Publishing. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  12. ↑ "OLD SAYBROOK Shore Line East Train Station". Connecticut Department of Transportation. February 2016. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016.
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