Madison station (Connecticut) explained

Madison
Style:Metro-North Railroad
Style2:New Haven Connecticut
Address:79 Bradley Road
Borough:Madison, Connecticut
Coordinates:41.2836°N -72.5995°W
Line:Amtrak Northeast Corridor
Other: Estuary Transit District: 641
CTtransit New Haven: 201
Platform:1 side platform
Tracks:2
Passengers:97 daily boardings[1]
Pass Year:2019
Opened:1852 (original station)
May 29, 1990 (modern station)[2]
Rebuilt:1896,
July 28, 2008
Closed:October 31, 1978
Accessible:Yes
Owned:ConnDOT
Other Services Header:Former services
Other Services Collapsible:yes
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Custom:
Shape:none
Line:none
Marker:rail
Zoom:14

Madison station is a passenger rail station along CT Rail's Shore Line East commuter rail line, which runs on the Northeast Corridor between New Haven and New London. Madison station consists of a mid-sized parking lot and one high-level side platform on the southbound side of the tracks.

Madison is a commuter-only station; Amtrak's Acela and Northeast Regional services run through the station without stopping. Madison is served by about 11 Shore Line East trains in each direction on weekdays and 5 in each direction on weekends.

History

New Haven Railroad

The New Haven & New London Railroad was charted in 1848, began construction in 1850, and opened for service in July 1852.[3] A station similar to other on the line was located off Wall Street just north of downtown Madison.[4] The line was owned by the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad (the "Stonington Road") from 1858 to 1862, and by the Shore Line Railway from 1864 until it was acquired by the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad (the "New Haven") in 1870.

In 1896, the original station was replaced by a saltbox station of a standard New Haven design, located slightly to the west. The older station was moved for use as a freight house.[5] A small wooden westbound shelter, similar to other Shore Line stops east of New Haven, was added in the 1950s.

Most commuter service east of New Haven ceased on January 1, 1969, after the New Haven merged into Penn Central, though the Clamdigger continued operation under Penn Central and later Amtrak until January 28, 1972.[6] [7] The shelter was likely demolished around 1973, as were other such shelters at recently closed stations.

A second version of the Clamdigger operated from September 9, 1976 to October 30, 1977, but it did not stop at Madison.[8] [9] [10] The Clamdigger was reinstated on January 8, 1978, with commuter-based flag stops added at Groton, Clinton, Madison, Stony Creek, and Branford.[11] It was replaced by the Boston-New Haven Beacon Hill effective April 30, 1978.[12] [13] The Beacon Hill was discontinued on October 1, 1981, ending service to Madison a second time.[14] [15]

In 1969, the 1896-built station was renovated as a showroom for a model home company. It is still in place, although the canopy was removed in the late 1990s during electrification work, and an expansion in 2005 modified its shape. In 1985, the 1852-built station was moved for possible renovations, but soon demolished.[16] The Madison Senior Center, which had been a possible reuse of the station, was rebuilt on Old Route 79 as an exact replica; it was demolished around 2011 during the construction of a new ambulance facility on the site.[17]

Shore Line East

The current station has one, two car long high level platform. The modern Madison station opened at the beginning of Shore Line East service on May 29, 1990. A small low-level platform with Plexiglas shelters was located at Wall Street, almost exactly where the town's first station was located. Like the other original 1990 Shore Line East stations, the station was built before the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed, and its low-level platform was not accessible. On July 28, 2008, a new station with an accessible high-level side platform and commuter shelter area opened for service to the west of the previous station.[18]

A second platform and three-story parking garage are planned to allow the station, which is less than half a mile from I-95 and US-1, to serve as a park-and-ride station. The second platform is mandated by a 2003 agreement between ConnDOT and Amtrak.[19] A Record of Decision for the project was released in 2009.[20] By 2012 it was to go out to bid in 2013, but this was indefinitely delayed as platform construction at busier Branford and Guilford and electrification work for future M8 service were prioritized instead.[21] After a second attempt, it was announced in January 2018 that the project would be postponed again until new funding was identified.[22]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Facility Management Services for Various Railroad Station Facilities for Region C . https://biznet.ct.gov/SCP_Documents/Bids/55857/Attachment_8_-_SLE_Station_ridership_2019.pdf . Attachment 8: Shore Line East station ridership . 2021 . Connecticut Department of Transportation.
  2. News: Commuter Trains Have Smooth Start . July 13, 2021 . . May 30, 1990 . D9. Newspapers.com.
  3. Book: The Rail Lines of Southern New England . Karr, Ronald Dale . Branch Line Press . 1995 . 0942147022 . 94–96.
  4. Web site: Madison, Conn. (Petersen Collection) . S.I. . 1850 . UConn Libraries . October 9, 2012.
  5. Web site: CT Passenger Stations, M-ME . Tyler City Station . Belletzkie, Bob.
  6. News: Last Run Made By Clamdigger . . January 29, 1972 . 32 . . July 13, 2016 .
  7. Web site: Baer . Christopher T. . A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1972 . Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society . April 2015.
  8. Web site: Baer . Christopher T. . A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 1976 . Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society . April 2015 . 34.
  9. Web site: National Train Timetables . October 31, 1976 . National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) . The Museum of Railway Timetables . 15, 22 .
  10. Web site: Baer . Christopher T. . A General Chronology Of The Pennsylvania Railroad Company Its Predecessors And Successors And Its Historical Context: 1977 . Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society . April 2015 . 32.
  11. Web site: National Train Timetables . January 8, 1978 . National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) . 9 . The Museum of Railway Timetables.
  12. Web site: National Train Timetables . April 30, 1978 . Amtrak). 18 . The Museum of Railway Timetables.
  13. Web site: Baer . Christopher T. . A General Chronology Of The Pennsylvania Railroad Company Its Predecessors And Successors And Its Historical Context: 1978 . Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society . April 2015.
  14. News: New Amtrak Network Keeps Most of System Intact . Associated Press . August 26, 1981 . H. Josef . Hebert.
  15. Web site: Baer . Christopher T. . A General Chronology Of The Pennsylvania Railroad Company Its Predecessors And Successors And Its Historical Context: 1980–1989 . Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society . April 2015.
  16. Book: A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses . Roy, John H. Jr. . Branch Line Press . 2007 . 9780942147087 . 62–63, 199.
  17. News: Madison starts building senior, ambulance facilities . New Haven Register . Alexandra . Sanders . October 14, 2010.
  18. Shore Line East/What's New . October 1, 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081001190916/http://shorelineeast.com/whatsnew.htm . October 1, 2008 . Connecticut Department of TRansportation.
  19. Web site: Expanding Rail Service . Connecticut Department of Transportation . January 1, 2007 . March 13, 2016.
  20. Web site: RECORD OF DECISION Prepared in accordance with the Connecticut Environmental Policy Act: Madison Shore Line East Railroad Station . March 2009 . Connecticut Department of Transportation . March 13, 2016.
  21. News: New Ethics Complaint Filed Against Meyer; Meyer Fires Back . Branford Seven . Mazzacane . Steven M. . July 31, 2012 . March 13, 2016.
  22. Gov. Malloy, CTDOT Indefinitely Postpone Hundreds of Transportation Projects Across Connecticut . State of Connecticut . January 10, 2018.