New Rochelle station

Early New Rochelle ticket book

On December 25, 1848 the first train steamed through New Rochelle, part of the New York and New Haven Railroad built in the early 1840s. At the time, New Rochelle was the final railroad station before entering New York City. A fatal head-on collision in New Rochelle in 1851 led to the construction of a second track in 1853. By 1869, six trains traveled between the two cities daily. NY&NH was consolidated into the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad a year later. In 1873, the railroad acquired the Harlem River and Port Chester Railroad and linked it to the station. In 1884, the railroad drew up plans for its present brick structure which was constructed in 1887 to replace the original Gothic Revival structure that had stood just northeast of what is now North Avenue.[8]

The 1½ story station is built of brick and has a gabled roof punctuated by a series of hipped dormers. A centered hexagonal dormer projects away from the building to allow views along the tracks. Its eaves overhang beyond the exterior walls of the building, and is supported by unadorned wood brackets. The interior of the 3,670 square feet (341 m²) still retains many original features. By the start of the 20th century, the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad had five tracks through New Rochelle. The population had surged to 15,000 inhabitants. A roundhouse for steam engines, tracks for passenger cars and a large freightyard near Cedar Street was built.[9]

Over the years, New Rochelle became one of the busiest stations on the line. As it developed into a commuter town, local travel increased even more. The city obtained national fame in 1906 when George M. Cohan wrote the song entitled "Forty-five Minutes from Broadway". The average 36-minute train ride and 10-minute walk from Grand Central to Broadway places the station about 45 minutes away.

As with all New Haven Line stations in Westchester County, the station became a Penn Central station upon acquisition by Penn Central in 1969, and eventually became part of the MTA's Metro-North Railroad. On October 25, 1987, New Rochelle became eastern Westchester County's Amtrak station,[10] replacing Rye, which served as the county's eastern Amtrak station since 1972.[11] The station was fully renovated in 1990, and careful attention was placed on restoring it to its original historical accuracy. The waiting room is reflective of New Haven line stations, with plaster walls, a wood ceiling and wood wainscot sheathing. The original floor was probably wood, but was replaced sometime in the 1930s with Terrazzo. There are wood moldings around the doors, and crown moldings enhance the perimeter at the ceiling line.[12]

During 2021, a limited number of Acela trains stopped at New Rochelle station on weekends.[13]

An increase in Metro-North and Amtrak ridership late in the 20th century caused a demand for additional parking. In 1994, the city launched a plan to create a transportation center, including a parking structure with bus and taxi connections. The parking garage has a capacity in excess of 900 cars, which is two and a half times the on-site parking capacity prior to its construction. On the ground level of the structure is a bus terminal, complete with a waiting area and ticket office. The center was designed to be home to long-distance bus carriers such as the Trailways Transportation System, however they have since moved out of the Center, back to a stop two blocks away on Main Street.[14] Routes on the Westchester Bee-Line are still served here. Several taxi companies operate from the structure, and Connecticut Limousine provides service to regional airports. The center was completed in 2001 and is in active use. The old station and the new transportation center have been blended together to meet the needs of the growing commuter population while at the same time preserving historical and architectural integrity of the 1887 station house.[15]

• 
  Bus entrance from North Avenue
• 
  Bicycles and buses at the station.
• 
  The intermodal center in the background of the old New Haven station house.

The station has two high-level platforms. The north one is a nine-car-long side platform and the south one is an 8-car long island platform.[16]^: 18

G	Street level	Exit/entrance and parking
P Platform level	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Track 3	←      New Haven Line toward Grand Central (Pelham)
	Track 1	←      New Haven Line express trains do not stop here
	Track 2	←      New Haven Line express trains do not stop here → ←      Vermonter,      Acela do not stop here ←      Northeast Regional toward Norfolk, Newport News or Roanoke (New York–Penn Station)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left or right
	Track 4	←      New Haven Line toward Stamford (Larchmont) → ←      Northeast Regional toward Boston or Springfield (Stamford) → ←      Vermonter,      Acela do not stop here →

• Beacher, Melvin, Architect (February 2005). Interview regarding 1989 restoration.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Hawes, George (January 1884). NY,·NH, & HRR Passenger Station Plans. New Rochelle, New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Stage JA Archaeological Survey of the Inter-modal Transportation Center. New Rochelle, New York: Historical Perspectives, Inc. 1999.
• Jenkins, Stephen (1912). The Story of the Bronx from the Purchase Made by the Dutch from the Indians in 1639 to the Present Day. New York, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
• Marchant, Robert (December 11, 1989). "Officials finishing restoration plans for the New Rochelle Train Station". Standard Star.
• Taylor, David L. (1998). Building-Structure Inventory Form: Metro North Railroad Station. New Rochelle, New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Wald, Matthew (July 23, 1989). "Resolving the Fate of New Rochelle's Station". New York Times.
• Wines, Roger (March 1, 1991). "Railroad Station Re-dedication". New Rochelle, New York.

Media related to New Rochelle station at Wikimedia Commons

• New Rochelle, NY – Amtrak
• New Rochelle, NY – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• Metro-North station page for New Rochelle
• List of upcoming Metro-North train departure times and track assignments from MTA
• New Rochelle Amtrak/Metro-North Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)
• New Rochelle Station (The SubwayNut)
• New Rochelle Transportation Center (Downtown New Rochelle Business District)
• North Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View