Wallingford station (Connecticut)

Wallingford
Wallingford station in November 2013
Location	37 Hall Avenue Wallingford, Connecticut
Line(s)	New Haven–Springfield Line
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Connections	Connecticut Transit
Other information
Station code	WFD
History
Opened	1871
Rebuilt	May 2017 (under construction)
Traffic
Passengers (FY 2016)	9,377[1]
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station New Haven toward Norfolk, Newport News, or Lynchburg Northeast Regional Meriden toward Springfield, MA New Haven Terminus New Haven – Springfield Shuttle New Haven toward Washington, DC Vermonter Meriden toward St. Albans   Starting in early 2018   ConnDOT North Haven toward New Haven Union Station Hartford Line Meriden toward Springfield
Wallingford Railroad Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Show map of Connecticut Show map of the US
Location	Wallingford, Connecticut
Coordinates	41°27′25″N 72°49′29.5″W / 41.45694°N 72.824861°W / 41.45694; -72.824861Coordinates: 41°27′25″N 72°49′29.5″W / 41.45694°N 72.824861°W / 41.45694; -72.824861
Architect	W.P. Dickerman
Architectural style	Second Empire
NRHP Reference #	93001245[2]
Added to NRHP	November 19, 1993

Wallingford station is an Amtrak train station in Wallingford, Connecticut. It serves the Northeast Regional, New Haven – Springfield Shuttle, and the Vermonter lines. The station is located adjacent to the town green, between Hall Avenue and Quinnipiac Avenue, near where both intersect with Colony Street (U.S. Route 5).

Additionally, the Connecticut Department of Transportation plans to add a new commuter service called the Hartford Line in collaboration with Amtrak and the federal government that will run between New Haven and Springfield, Massachusetts. As of late 2015, funding had been secured and the service is scheduled to begin operation in early 2018.^[3] A new station with high-level platforms is under construction to the north of the existing station; it will open in May 2017.

History

An Amtrak train at Wallingford in 1980

The depot at Wallingford was built in 1871 by the Hartford & New Haven Railroad on the Springfield Line, and was built in a French Second Empire style similar to that of Windsor Station.^[4]

Only the platform at Wallingford remains in use by Amtrak today; the station building was closed to the public in 1994 and is now used for adult education and the New Haven Model Railroad Club. The line through Wallingford was double-tracked until 1990 when the second track was removed. Today there are 15 passenger trains a day in addition to a daily round-trip freight on the Springfield Line during the daytime. Wallingford station has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1993. There are currently plans by Amtrak and the Connecticut Department of Transportation to add a new service called the Hartford Line. A new station is under construction half a mile to the north on Parker Street to accommodate the increased number of passengers.

A temporary platform replaced the former platform on May 1, 2016. The temporary platform will be used until the new station is completed.^[5] The rebuilt Meriden, Berlin, and Wallingford stations are expected to be completed by May 2017, although the stations will serve only existing Amtrak service until January 2018 when Hartford Line service begins.^[6][7]

In fall 2016, the Wallingford Planning and Zoning Commission adopted a Transit-Oriented Development Plan, which outlined recommendations for development and infrastructure changes around the station. The existing commercial, industrial zone near the station, as part of the plan, will be replaced with medium- and high-density residential zoning. New commercial and residential development will be encouraged near the station and improvements will be made in the area of the station to connect to downtown Wallingford.^[8]

• 
  Temporary platform used in mid-2016
• 
  New station under construction in December 2016

Connections

• Connecticut Transit Wallingford

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in New Haven County, Connecticut

References

External links

• Media related to Wallingford (Amtrak station) at Wikimedia Commons

• Amtrak – Stations – Wallingford, CT
• "Wallingford Amtrak Station". USA Rail Guide - Train Web. 
• "Wallingford, Conn., railroad station, n.d. New Haven Railroad Photographic Negatives Collection (1991-0134.ph115)". Railroad History Archive. University of Connecticut Libraries. Archived from the original (photograph) on February 19, 2012.