Darien station

Darien station is a commuter rail station on the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, located in Darien, Connecticut. Located in downtown Darien, the station has two accessible side platforms serving the outer tracks of the four-track New Haven Line.

Darien
Darien station building and platform in September 2018
General information
Location	33 West Avenue Darien, Connecticut
Coordinates	41.078187°N 73.472958°W / 41.078187; -73.472958
Owned by	ConnDOT
Line(s)	ConnDOT New Haven Line (Northeast Corridor)
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Connections	CTTransit Stamford: 341, 342, 344
Construction
Parking	860 spaces
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	16
History
Opened	December 25, 1848[1][2]
Passengers
2018	1,873 daily boardings[3]
Services
Preceding station Metro-North Railroad Following station Noroton Heights toward Grand Central New Haven Line Rowayton toward New Haven or New Haven State Street Danbury Branch weekday service Rowayton toward Danbury
Former services Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station Noroton toward New York Main Line Rowayton toward New Haven
Location

Station layout

The station has two accessible high-level side platforms, each 10 cars long. The two inner tracks, not adjacent to either platform, are used only by express trains.^[4]: 20

Several parking lots on both sides of the tracks serve the station with a total of 860 spaces.^[5] The state owns the parking lots nearest the Post Road and on the west (south) side of the tracks between the Post Road and Leroy Avenue (with 195 spaces^[6]). The town owns the "Leroy West" parking lot west of Leroy Avenue (toward New York City). The parking lot at the corner of West and Leroy Avenues is privately owned.^[5]

History

Platform reconstruction in December 2023

Downtown Darien, originally known as "Darien Depot", grew up around the train station, replacing the Noroton commercial district (2–3 miles to the east, along the Post Road) by the 1870s. By then, the train connection to New York City allowed wealthy New Yorkers to build vacation homes along the shore, beginning Darien's history as a wealthy suburb.^[7]

In the 1890s, the railroad tracks were raised above the street level, creating the railroad bridges over the Post Road, which marks the east side of the station, and over Leroy Avenue, at the western end. A Chinese laundry business has been located near the station since the 1890s, operated by various owners. The historic station building was rehabilitated in 2002.^[5]

In 2017, a state report concluded that Darien was the highest priority station in the state for needed repairs. By October 2020, platform replacement and accessibility improvements totaling $34M were planned to begin in February 2022.^[8] The project ultimately began in November 2023.^[9] As of April 2025^[update], the project is scheduled to be completed in March 2026.^[10]