Danbury Branch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Operating | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owner | Connecticut DOT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | Norwalk, CT to Danbury, CT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termini |
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Stations | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Type | Commuter rail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
System | Metro-North Railroad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operator(s) | Metro-North (passenger 1983–present) PW (freight 1993 – present) [1] Housatonic (freight 1983–present) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rolling stock | GE Genesis P32AC-DM Brookville BL20GH EMD GP40-3H Shoreliner coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line length | 23.9 mi (38.46 km) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Character | Commuter rail / Branch line | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electrification | None (electrified 1925-1961) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Danbury Branch is a diesel branch of the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line in the U.S. state of Connecticut, running from downtown Norwalk north to Danbury. It opened in 1852 as the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad. Until the early 1970s, passenger service continued north from Danbury to Canaan, Connecticut, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Metro-North took over operation of the line from Conrail in 1983, and the modern-day branch is mostly single-tracked.
The Danbury and Norwalk Railroad began operating its line from Norwalk north to Danbury on February 22, 1852. In July 1872 a branch from the mainline at Bethel northeast to Hawleyville opened. At Hawleyville, the branch connected to the Housatonic Railroad, continuing north into Massachusetts. Also at Hawleyville, connections with the Shepaug Railroad to Litchfield were possible. [2]
Starting on May 1, 1874, that connection was supplemented by the New York, Housatonic and Northern Railroad, running from Danbury northeast to the Housatonic. In 1881 the New York and New England Railroad was completed, giving another connection at Danbury and at Hawleyville. A short branch from Branchville on the mainline west to Ridgefield opened July 1, 1870. In July 1882 an extension was built in Norwalk to docks at Wilson Point. The Housatonic Railroad leased the D&N on July 21, 1887; and soon after, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad leased the Housatonic. [2]
Long-distance passenger service operated on the line. The Berkshire ran on the line from Grand Central to Danbury, to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Many railroad bridges along the Danbury Branch were damaged or destroyed in the 1955 Norwalk river flood. [3] The NYNH&H merged into Penn Central in 1969. On January 1, 1971, the State of Connecticut leased the Danbury Branch from Penn Central. [4] The last passenger train from Danbury north to Pittsfield, Massachusetts ran in April 1971, the day before Amtrak assumed passenger operations. From 1976 until 1983, freight and passenger service on the line was provided by the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) under a contract with Connecticut. In 1983 the newly formed Metro-North Commuter Railroad took over operation of passenger service along the line. [1] [ page needed ] Conrail continued to provide freight service on the line until 1993. The Providence and Worcester Railroad now provides freight service along the Danbury Branch.
Upon renovation of the Merritt 7 station, Metro-North ceased stops at Kent Road on January 16, 1994, and instead provided service via shuttle bus to Merritt 7 for local employers. By the time of its closing, fewer than 15 passengers used the station daily. [5]
The Danbury Line operated electric-powered trains beginning in 1925. The catenary system on the Danbury Line was removed in 1961 when diesel-powered locomotives resumed service on the line. [6] [7] Steel posts that once carried the overhead catenary system can still be seen along the line. [8] As of 2022 [update] , the Connecticut Department of Transportation was studying the feasibility of installing catenary wire on the Danbury Branch. [9]
The Switchtower Museum in South Norwalk describes to visitors how railroad employees would switch the tracks for trains continuing on the Danbury branch line, then switch them back for trains travelling along the New Haven main line. [10]
The Danbury Railway Museum is located in the former Union Station of the D&N and NY&NE in Danbury. It lies just north of the current Danbury Metro-North station. At the museum are examples of rolling stock retired from service as well as an indoor display of model trains.
There have been proposals to re-electrify the Danbury Branch, along with a plan to extend service north from Danbury to New Milford. [11]
In connection with the planned redevelopment of the Gilbert & Bennett Wire Mill as a residential neighborhood, reopening a Georgetown station between the Cannondale and Branchville stations has been approved, though not yet scheduled or funded. [12] [13] The previous station was abandoned in the 1970s due to low ridership.
Over $60 million was allocated to the Danbury Branch, approximately half from the economic stimulus package of 2009, to improve current stations, build siding tracks, and install a new signal system. Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell held a press conference with local politicians at the Cannondale station on July 28, 2009, to announce that construction was scheduled to start in late 2009 and finish in 2011. [14] The new signal system finally began operation in 2013, but extensive work was still ongoing in 2014 because of unresolved problems with the drop gates at grade crossings. [15] [16]
In fall 2012, the focus of the plan was only on improving the corridor as far as Danbury, with no extension. [11]
In May 2015, Governor Dannel Malloy's five-year plan for transportation improvements called "Let's Go CT" only mentioned one point for the Danbury Branch. [17] This is a new small rail yard called the Danbury Line Dock Yard Improvements. This area in South Norwalk will include electrification of the southern end of the branch. This was to enable work to commence on the Walk Bridge. [18] However, at the same time a 30-year plan was published that does envision electrification of the Danbury Branch, extending service to New Milford and electrifying that extension. Electrification of the portion to Danbury would cost $400 million; the extension to New Milford would cost $450 million, and the electrification of the extension would cost $540 million. [19]
On February 1, 2017, the Connecticut State Bond Commission authorized $21 million in borrowing for upgrades at the Merritt 7 station as well as for the addition of a station on the New Haven Line. The Merritt 7 station would have a footbridge added, a raised platform, and an expanded shelter. [20]
Plans to reopen the long-closed Wall Street station are under consideration in wake of new housing developments in Norwalk Center. [21]
West of South Norwalk, the New Haven Line continues southwest to Grand Central Terminal and northeast to Union Station in New Haven.
All trains stop at all seven stations on the branch. The trip from Danbury to South Norwalk currently (2018) takes about 54 minutes. All peak trains and some off-peak run to Stamford on weekdays, and limited service runs to Grand Central Terminal as well. Limited through service from Danbury to Grand Central takes about 2 hours. Two weekday trains serve the intermediate stations (Rowayton, Darien, and Noroton Heights) in peak direction.
The following services that connect to the Danbury Branch are Amtrak, [22] Metro-North Railroad, [23] Norwalk Transit District, [24] and HARTransit. [25]
Zone | Location | Station | Miles (km) from GCT | Date opened | Date closed | Connections / notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
17 | Norwalk | South Norwalk | 41.0 (66.0) | Metro-North Railroad: New Haven Line Norwalk Transit District: 10, 11, 12, Evening Shuttle, Sunday Shuttle, Norwalk Commuter Shuttle [24] | ||
41 | ||||||
Wall Street | 1860 | 1956 | Station house was at 47 Wall St. Norwalk, CT right over the tracks. [26] | |||
Merritt 7 | 45.0 (72.4) | 1985 [27] | Norwalk Transit: Route 7 Link, Norwalk Commuter Connection | |||
Wilton | ||||||
Kent Road | January 12, 1976 | January 16, 1994 | ||||
Wilton | 48.5 (78.1) | 1852 | Norwalk Transit: Route 7 Link | |||
Cannondale | 50.2 (80.8) | 1852 | Norwalk Transit: Route 7 Link | |||
Georgetown | 1970s | |||||
42 | Ridgefield | Branchville | 54.0 (86.9) | 1852 | Norwalk Transit: Route 7 Link | |
Redding | Sanford | 1852 | 1938 | |||
Redding | 58.7 (94.5) | 1852 | Norwalk Transit: Route 7 Link | |||
Bethel | Bethel | 62.2 (100.1) | 1852 | Housatonic Area Regional Transit: 5 | ||
Danbury | Danbury | 64.9 (104.4) | 1852 | Housatonic Area Regional Transit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Route 7 Link, Danbury–Brewster Shuttle, Newton Road Loop | ||
Unlike the New Haven main line or the New Canaan Branch, the Danbury Branch is not electrified, and uses diesel locomotives in push-pull operation. Usually, the diesels push trains toward Grand Central Terminal, and pull toward Danbury. All of the passenger cars used are Shoreliner series cars, powered by GE P32AC-DM Genesis, Brookville BL20GH, or EMD GP40-3H locomotives.
In August 2023, CTDOT approved a contract with Alstom for 60 single-level passenger cars. The cars will replace the existing Shoreliner coach fleet on the Waterbury Branch and the Danbury Branch, as well as Mafersa coaches on the Hartford Line. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2026. [28] [29]
Metro-North Railroad, trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority of the U.S. state of New York. Metro-North serves the New York Metropolitan Area, running service between New York City and its northern suburbs in New York and Connecticut, including Port Jervis, Spring Valley, Poughkeepsie, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, White Plains, Southeast and Wassaic in New York and Stamford, New Canaan, Danbury, Bridgeport, Waterbury, and New Haven in Connecticut. Service in Connecticut is operated under contract with the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Metro-North also provides local rail service within the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx.
New Haven Union Station is the main railroad passenger station in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the third such station in the city of New Haven, preceded by both an 1848 built station in a different location, and an 1879 built station near the current station's location. Designed by noted American architect Cass Gilbert, the present beaux-arts Union Station was completed and opened in 1920 after the previous Union Station was destroyed by fire. It served the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad for the next five decades, but fell into decline following World War II along with the United States railroad industry as a whole.
The New Haven Line is a 72.7 mi (117.0 km) commuter rail line operated by the Metro-North Railroad in the U.S. states of New York and Connecticut. Running from New Haven, Connecticut, to New York City, the New Haven Line joins the Harlem Line in Mount Vernon, New York, and continues south to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The New Haven Line carries 125,000 passengers every weekday and 39 million passengers a year. The busiest intermediate station is Stamford, with 8.4 million passengers, or 21% of the line's ridership.
The Housatonic Railroad is a Class III railroad operating in southwestern New England and eastern New York. It was chartered in 1983 to operate a short section of ex-New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in northwestern Connecticut, and has since expanded north and south, as well as west into New York State.
The Danbury and Norwalk Railroad, chartered in 1835 as the Fairfield County Railroad, was an independent American railroad that operated between the cities of Danbury and Norwalk, Connecticut from 1852 until its absorption by the Housatonic Railroad in 1886. The right of way established by the D&N continues in operation and is now the Danbury Branch of the New Haven Line of the Metro-North Railroad.
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.
Branchville station is a commuter rail station on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, located in the Branchville neighborhood of Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Cannondale station is a commuter rail station on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line, located in the Cannondale neighborhood of Wilton, Connecticut. The station building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992 as part of the Cannondale Historic District.
Wilton station is a commuter rail station on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line, located in Wilton, Connecticut. The station first opened in 1852 and is the most used station on the Danbury Branch by weekday passengers.
The Metro-North Railroad's Beacon Line is a non-revenue line connecting the railroad's three revenue lines east of the Hudson River. From west to east, the lines that connect are Hudson Line, Harlem Line, and the Danbury Branch of the New Haven Line. It was purchased by Metro-North in 1995 for $4.2 million from Maybrook Properties, a subsidiary of the Housatonic Railroad, to preserve it for future use, training, and equipment moves. Maybrook Properties purchased the line from Conrail after Conrail withdrew from the Danbury, Connecticut, freight market in 1992.
Hawleyville is an unincorporated community in Fairfield County in the town of Newtown, Connecticut, about 1 mile outside the borough of Newtown. It was listed as a census-designated place prior to the 2020 census.
The Shepaug, Litchfield and Northern Railroad was a short independent railroad in western Connecticut that was chartered as the Shepaug Valley Railroad in 1868 and operated from 1872 to 1891 when it was taken over by the Housatonic Railroad. In 1898, the Housatonic operation was assumed by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NH). As the Litchfield Division of the NH, the line was operated until abandonment in 1948. Much of the line remains as a rail trail.
The Housatonic Railroad was a railroad in the U.S. states of Connecticut and Massachusetts, chartered in 1836. Opened between Bridgeport, Connecticut, and New Milford, Connecticut, in 1840, it was completed to a connection with the Western Railroad in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1842. Branches were later built to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Danbury, Connecticut, and Derby, Connecticut, the latter as part of the Housatonic Railroad's purchase of the New Haven and Derby Railroad in 1887.
New Milford station is a former railroad station on Railroad Street in New Milford, Connecticut. Built in 1886 by the Housatonic Railroad Company, it cemented the town's importance as a regional tourist and business center. It served passenger service until 1971, and is now home to the Greater New Milford chamber of commerce. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Kent Road station was a commuter rail stop on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line. It was located near the border between Wilton and Norwalk, south of a grade crossing with Kent Road in Wilton, Connecticut. It opened in 1976 and closed in 1994. A previous station on the site, South Wilton, closed in 1971.
Brookfield station is a proposed passenger rail station on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, to be located in Brookfield, Connecticut.
CT Rail, stylized as CTrail, is the brand for commuter rail services overseen by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), in the U.S. state of Connecticut, with services on the Hartford Line extending into Massachusetts. CTDOT oversees two lines: Shore Line East, between New Haven and New London, Connecticut, and the Hartford Line, from New Haven, through Hartford, to Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Berkshire was a New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad named train running from New York City's Grand Central Terminal to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It was the longest-running north–south train in Litchfield Hills of western Connecticut and the Berkshires of Massachusetts. From New York City it followed the New Haven Line to South Norwalk, the Danbury Line to Danbury and the Berkshire Division to Pittsfield. It began in the 1940s and ran until 1968. The train was preceded by the Berkshire Express, of c.1938-c.1943. It terminated at Pittsfield Union Station until 1960, when the New Haven moved it to another station in the city.
Sanford station was a passenger rail station on the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad and later the Danbury Branch of both the Housatonic Railroad and the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad. The station was located on the border between Ridgefield and Redding, Connecticut, and was located on Topstone Road. Opened in 1852 as a flag stop and located in the Topstone section of Redding, Connecticut, the original station building was destroyed in 1891 by a speeding freight train. A new station building was erected the following year and would serve until the station's closure in 1938. The station was called so because of the numerous families named Sanford in the area surrounding the station.
The Ridgefield Branch was a branch line of the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad and later the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. It ran for 4.0 miles (6.4 km) from Branchville to the center of Ridgefield, Connecticut. After a difficult and costly construction hindered by the topography of the Norwalk River valley, the branch opened in July 1870 after a year of construction. Throughout its existence, three stations existed on the line. In 1925, amid electrification of the neighboring Danbury Line, passenger service on the branch was terminated. Freight service continued to just the Ridgefield station until 1964, when the line was abandoned entirely.
Other major railroad developments included the electrification of the New Haven line and many of its branches, including the Norwalk / Danbury branch, although the line extending from Danbury to New Milford was never electrified. The electrification of the New Haven contributed to its history of financial difficulties, and the company was nearly insolvent or bankrupt, consolidated, and reorganized several times. The southern Danbury branch was de-electrified in 1961, and by 1969 the New Haven was consolidated with the Penn Central system.