Bridgeport station (Connecticut)

Bridgeport station is a shared Amtrak, Metro-North Railroad, and CTrail 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, as do some CTrail Shore Line East trains. 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.

Bridgeport
Bridgeport station in November 2004
General information
Location525 Water Street
Bridgeport, Connecticut
United States
Coordinates41.1778°N 73.1871°W / 41.1778; -73.1871
Owned byCity of Bridgeport
Operated byConnecticut Department of Transportation
Line(s)ConnDOT New Haven Line (Northeast Corridor)
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks4
ConnectionsLocal Transit Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 17, 19X, 22X, 23, Coastal Link
Intercity Bus Greyhound
Intercity Bus Peter Pan
Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry
Bus transport Sacred Heart University Transit Shuttle
Bus transport University of Bridgeport Shuttle
Construction
AccessibleYes
Other information
Station codeAmtrak: BRP
Fare zone19 (Metro-North)
History
Opened1840 (Housatonic Railroad)[1]
January 1849 (New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad[2][3]
RebuiltJuly 1903–August 20, 1905[4][5]
June 7, 1973–October 27, 1975[6][7]
Key dates
March 20, 19791905 station depot burns down[8]
Passengers
FY 202298,572 annually[9] (Amtrak)
20184,490 (avg. weekday)[10] (MetroNorth)
Rank9 of 124 (Metro-North)[10]
Services
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 Metro-North Railroad Following station
Fairfield Metro
toward Grand Central
 New Haven Line Stratford
toward New Haven State Street
Terminus Waterbury Branch Derby–Shelton
toward Waterbury
Stamford
peak service
Terminus
Preceding station CT Rail Following station
South Norwalk
toward Stamford
 Shore Line East
peak service
 Stratford
toward New London
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

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 41.181206°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]

Shore Line East service west of New Haven was service suspended indefinitely on March 16, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic.[12][13]

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 Express.[14]: 22 

The station has 1,453 parking spaces, with 950 owned by the state.[15]

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. open access
  4. "Bridgeport Station". The Hartford Courant. July 17, 1903. p. 9. Retrieved May 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  5. "Bridgeport's New Station". The Hartford Courant. August 15, 1905. p. 5. Retrieved May 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  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. open access
  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. open access
  8. "Fire Razes Old Depot in Bridgeport". The New York Times. March 21, 1979. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  9. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2022: State of Connecticut" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  10. METRO-NORTH 2018 WEEKDAY STATION BOARDINGS. Market Analysis/Fare Policy Group:OPERATIONS PLANNING AND ANALYSIS DEPARTMENT:Metro-North Railroad. 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.
  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. "Metro-North Railroad Track & Structures Department Track Charts Maintenance Program Interlocking Diagrams & Yard Diagrams 2015" (PDF). Metro-North Railroad. 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  15. 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"

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