Danbury station

Danbury station is a commuter rail station on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, located in Danbury, Connecticut. The station is the northern terminus of the Danbury Branch.

Danbury
A northbound train arriving at the station
General information
Location	1 Patriot Drive Danbury, Connecticut
Coordinates	41.3963°N 73.4493°W / 41.3963; -73.4493
Owned by	Connecticut Department of Transportation[1]
Operated by	City of Danbury[1]
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	3
Connections	HARTransit: 2, 7
Construction
Parking	147 spaces
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	42
History
Opened	1852
Rebuilt	1996
Passengers
2018	185 daily boardings[2]
Services
Preceding station Metro-North Railroad Following station Bethel toward South Norwalk, Stamford or Grand Central Danbury Branch Terminus
Proposed services Preceding station Metro-North Railroad Following station Bethel toward South Norwalk, Stamford or Grand Central Danbury Branch North Danbury toward New Milford
Location

Station layout

The station has one three-car-long high-level island platform on the north side of the two-track line. A stub siding serves the north side of the platform.^[3]: 28

The station has 147 parking spaces, all of which are owned by the state.^[4]

History

The former Danbury Union Station

The original Danbury station opened in 1852 as the northern terminus of the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad. Throughout the history of the Danbury station, the station has had many different depots. The first depot was opened in 1852 and served as the headquarters for the D&N. The Danbury station would have three different depots over the course of its history from 1852 to today.^[5] The 1903-built union station was an important part of Danbury's industrial expansion through the 1900s. However, by 1995, the Union station had fallen into complete disrepair, and was replaced by today's station in 1996.^[6]

The present passenger station was built in 1996 by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) and replaced the older New Haven Railroad station, which now houses the Danbury Railway Museum.^[7]

In 2018, the city proposed to relocate the Housatonic Area Regional Transit transfer hub to a parcel across the street from the station, with a footbridge connecting them.^[8] The city received $1.6 million in federal funds in 2024 to design the transit center.^[9]

References

1. Office of Rail, Bureau of Public Transportation (January 2007). "New Haven Line Train Station Visual Inspection, Summary Report" (PDF). Connecticut Department of Transportation.
2. Metro-North 2018 Weekday Station Boardings. Metro-North Railroad Market Analysis/Fare Policy Group. April 2019. p. 6.
3. "Metro-North Railroad Track & Structures Department Track Charts Maintenance Program Interlocking Diagrams & Yard Diagrams 2015" (PDF). Metro-North Railroad. 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
4. "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 Archived July 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
5. Bell, Bob. "Stations:D". Tylercitystation.info. Tylercitystation. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
6. Bell, Bob. "Track 10 - High Drama in the Hat City: Links, Loops, Depots, and Dummies in Danbury, 1850-1925". Tylercitystation.info. Tylercitystation. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
7. Danbury Railway Museum. "ABOUT US". Danburyrail.org. Danbury Railway Museum. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
8. Murdock, Zach (May 2, 2018). "Report proposes new Danbury Transit Center for downtown bus, train stations". NewsTimes. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020.
9. Gagne, Michael (April 22, 2024). "Danbury gets $1.6M in federal funds to design long-shelved Transit Center to connect buses, trains". NewsTimes. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024.

External links

• Metro-North station page for Danbury
• List of upcoming Metro-North train departure times and track assignments from MTA
• Station House from Google Maps Street View (Exterior)