Bridgeport station (Connecticut)

Bridgeport
Bridgeport station in November 2004
General information
Location	525 Water Street Bridgeport, Connecticut United States
Coordinates	41°10′40″N73°11′14″W / 41.1778°N 73.1871°W / 41.1778; -73.1871
Owned by	City of Bridgeport
Operated by	Connecticut Department of Transportation
Line(s)	ConnDOT New Haven Line (Northeast Corridor)
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Connections	Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 17, 19X, 22X, 23, Coastal Link Greyhound Peter Pan Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry Sacred Heart University Transit Shuttle University of Bridgeport Shuttle
Construction
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak: BRP
Fare zone	19 (Metro-North)
History
Opened	1840 (Housatonic Railroad) [1] January 1849 (New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad [2] [3]
Rebuilt	July 1903–August 20, 1905 [4] [5] June 7, 1973–October 27, 1975 [6] [7]
Key dates
March 20, 1979	1905 station depot burns down [8]
Passengers
FY 2023	112,681 annually [9] (Amtrak)

Preceding station	Amtrak			Following station
Stamford toward Norfolk, Newport News or Roanoke		Northeast Regional		New Haven toward Boston South or Springfield
Stamford toward Washington, D.C.		Vermonter		New Haven toward St. Albans
Acela does not stop here
Preceding station	CT Rail			Following station
Stamford Terminus		Shore Line East limited weekday service		Stratford toward New London
Preceding station	Metro-North Railroad			Following station
Fairfield–Black Rock toward Grand Central		New Haven Line		Stratford toward New Haven or New Haven State Street
Terminus		Waterbury Branch		Stratford weekday service toward Waterbury
				Derby–Shelton toward Waterbury

Former services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Stamford toward Washington, D.C. Montrealer New Haven toward Montreal Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station Fairfield toward New York Main Line Stratford toward New Haven

Location

Bridgeport station is a shared Amtrak and Metro-North Railroad train station along the Northeast Corridor serving Bridgeport, Connecticut and nearby towns. On Metro-North, the station is the transfer point between the Waterbury Branch and the main New Haven Line. Amtrak's inter-city Northeast Regional and Vermonter service also stop at the station. In addition the transfer point for Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority buses, the departure point for the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry across Long Island Sound to Port Jefferson, New York, and both the Total Mortgage Arena and the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater are located adjacent to the station.

History

The 1905-built Bridgeport station in 1907

The current station was built under ConnDOT and Penn Central in 1975. It replaced a large, ornate structure built in 1905, located to the north of the current station at 41°10′52″N73°11′15″W / 41.181206°N 73.187535°W / 41.181206; -73.187535 . A branch line, originally built by New Haven Railroad predecessor Housatonic Railroad to Trumbull, Monroe and Newtown, used to join the main tracks at the old Bridgeport station. The relocation was occasioned by the introduction of "Cosmopolitan" M-2 railcars which could only board at high-level platforms, the installation of which was impractical at the old station due to the curvature of the platforms. The old station was destroyed by fire on March 20, 1979. ^[8]

On July 14, 1955, the northbound Federal Express overnight train from Washington, D.C. to Boston derailed due to excessive speed on a sharp curve approaching the station. One person was killed and 58 were injured. ^[11]

The limited Shore Line East service west of New Haven was service suspended indefinitely on March 16, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. ^{[12] [13]} That service resumed on October 7, 2024. ^[14]

Station layout

The station has two high-level side platforms, each eight cars long. The western platform, adjacent to Track 3, is generally used by westbound/southbound Metro-North and Amtrak trains. The eastern platform, adjacent to Track 4, is generally used by eastbound/northbound Metro-North and Amtrak trains. The New Haven Line uses four tracks at this location. The two inner tracks, not adjacent to either platform, are used only by express trains, including the Acela. ^{[15] : 22}

The station has 1,453 parking spaces, with 950 owned by the state. ^[16]

References

1. Great American Stations. Accessed March 1, 2013.
2. Poor, Henry Varnum (1860). History of the Railroads and Canals of the United States of America. New York, New York: J.H. Schultz & Company. p. 210. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
3. "Special Express Notice". The Evening Post. New York, New York. February 12, 1849. p. 3. Retrieved December 9, 2019– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Bridgeport Station". The Hartford Courant . July 17, 1903. p. 9. Retrieved May 16, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Bridgeport's New Station". The Hartford Courant. August 15, 1905. p. 5. Retrieved May 16, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Old Station's Closing Causes Brief Senior Center Lockout". The Bridgeport Post. June 7, 1973. p. 10. Retrieved May 7, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Dedication Slated Monday for City's Rail Station". The Bridgeport Post. October 22, 1975. pp. 1, 6 . Retrieved May 7, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Fire Razes Old Depot in Bridgeport". The New York Times. March 21, 1979. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
9. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2023: State of Connecticut" (PDF). Amtrak. March 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
10. Metro-North 2018 Weekday Station Boardings. Metro-North Railroad Market Analysis/Fare Policy Group. April 2019. p. 6.
11. "Report No. 3642: The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in re Accident at Bridgeport, Connecticut, July 14, 1955" (PDF). Interstate Commerce Commission accident reports. U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved June 16, 2012.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
12. @SLEalerts (March 13, 2020). "Effective 3/16/20, ALL weekday (Monday - Friday) CTrail Shore Line East trains will operate on an enhanced weekend schedule until further notice" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
13. "Shore Line East Service Information" (PDF). April 20, 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 20, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
14. "Stamford Through Service Returns to the Schedule" (Press release). Connecticut Department of Transportation. September 30, 2024.
15. "Metro-North Railroad Track & Structures Department Track Charts Maintenance Program Interlocking Diagrams & Yard Diagrams 2015" (PDF). Metro-North Railroad. 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
16. 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 "

External links

Media related to Bridgeport station (Connecticut) at Wikimedia Commons

• Bridgeport, CT – Amtrak
• Bridgeport, CT – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• Metro-North station page for Bridgeport
• List of upcoming Metro-North train departure times and track assignments from MTA
• Bridgeport Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)