Fairfield station (Metro-North)
{{Short description|Metro-North Railroad station in Connecticut}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox station
| name = Fairfield
| style = Metro-North Railroad
| style2 = New Haven Connecticut
| image = Fairfield station from southbound train (2), July 2019.JPG
| caption = The westbound platform at Fairfield station in July 2019
| address = 165 Unquowa Road (westbound)
| borough = Fairfield, Connecticut
| coordinates = {{coord|41.14413|-73.25773|display=inline,title}}
| owned = ConnDOT
| line = ConnDOT New Haven Line (Northeast Corridor)
| platform = 2 side platforms
| tracks = 4
| other = {{bus icon|12px|Local Transit}} GBTA: Coastal Link, 7
{{bus icon|12px|Local Transit}} Fairfield University Shuttle
| structure =
| parking = 1,216 spaces
| bicycle =
| accessible = Partial (route between platforms not accessible)
| code =
| zone = 18
| opened = December 25, 1848{{cite book |last1=Jenkins |first1=Stephen |title=The Story of the Bronx from the Purchase Made by the Dutch from the Indians in 1639 to the Present Day |date=1912 |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons |location=New York, New York |url=https://archive.org/details/storybronxfromp00jenkgoog |page=235}}{{cite news |title=Special Express Notice |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40303690/nynh_february_12_1849/ |access-date=December 9, 2019 |work=The Evening Post |date=February 12, 1849 |location=New York, New York |page=3|via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
| closed =
| rebuilt =
| former =
| mpassengers = {{rail pass box|passengers=2,311 daily boardings{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/mnrr-2018-weekday-station-boardings |title=Metro-North 2018 Weekday Station Boardings |date=April 2019 |publisher=Metro-North Railroad Market Analysis/Fare Policy Group |page=6}}| pass_year=2018}}
| services = {{Adjacent stations|system=Metro-North Railroad|line=New Haven|left=Southport|right=Fairfield–Black Rock}}
| other_services_header = Former services
| other_services_collapsible = yes
| other_services = {{Adjacent stations|system=New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad|line=main|left=Southport|right=Bridgeport}}
| nrhp = {{Infobox NRHP
| name = Fairfield Railroad Stations
| embed = yes
| location = Fairfield, Connecticut
| built = 1882, 1890s
| architecture = Stick/Eastlake
| added = July 28, 1989
| area = {{convert|0.7|acre|sigfig=1}}
| refnum = 89000926{{NRISref|2009a}}
}}
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-custom = {{Infobox mapframe |shape=none |line=none |marker=rail |marker-color=#EE0034 |zoom=14 }}
}}
Fairfield station is a commuter rail station on the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, located in Fairfield, Connecticut. The former station buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Fairfield Railroad Stations.
History
File:06824-second-train-station-house.JPG
Old station buildings, now reused for other purposes, are adjacent to both platforms. The brick eastbound (south) station was built in 1882. It replaced a station burned by a fire, and "is typical of the substantial brick stations built at small-town stops throughout the state in the period. Whereas earlier stations had been small wood-frame buildings, often in a picturesque Gothic or Italianate style, the stations of the 1880s were brick" to be fire-resistant and were larger to accommodate larger waiting areas and other amenities. They were "well-built but utilitarian" structures.{{rp|5}} The wooden westbound station "stands as an excellent example of the New Haven Railroad's 1890s passenger facilities" reflecting changed priorities.{{rp|5}}
The Budd M2 cars necessitated high level platforms, and the low-level platforms were replaced in 1972.
The two station buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The {{convert|0.7|acre|adj=on}} listed area was defined to include the two stations and their immediate surroundings, but to exclude a passenger cross-over and stairway, and to exclude associated parking areas.{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=89000926}} |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Fairfield Railroad Stations |date=August 29, 1988 |author=Brian Clouette |publisher=National Park Service |work=(includes sketch map)}} and {{NRHP url|id=89000926|title=Accompanying eight photos, from 1988|photos=y}}
The ticket window in the westbound station building was closed on July 7, 2010.{{cite web|url=http://web.mta.info/mnr/html/serviceupdates.htm?story=641 |title=mta.info - Metro-North Railroad: Selected Ticket Offices Close On July 7th |publisher=Metro-North Railroad |access-date=July 10, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305082802/http://web.mta.info/mnr/html/serviceupdates.htm?story=641 |archive-date=March 5, 2016 }}
Station layout
The station has two side platforms, each six cars (510 feet) long, serving the outer tracks of the four-track Northeast Corridor.{{Cite web|url=https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2647944/Operations-Metro-North-Railroad-Track-Charts.pdf|title=Metro-North Railroad Track & Structures Department Track Charts Maintenance Program Interlocking Diagrams & Yard Diagrams 2015|date=2015|publisher=Metro-North Railroad|access-date=January 28, 2019}}{{Rp|22}} Stairs connect the platforms to the Unquowa Road overpass at the east end of the station. Fairfield station is only partially accessible - while the platforms are fully accessible, there is no accessible route between the platforms.{{cite web |url=http://as0.mta.info/mnr/stations/station_detail.cfm?key=244 |title=Fairfield |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority |access-date=December 31, 2020}}
The station has 1,216 parking spaces, 376 of which are owned by the state and operated by the town; the main lot is on the north side of the station.{{cite web |url=http://www.ct.gov/dotinfo/lib/dotinfo/ctgov/FinalParkingReport.pdf |title=Task 2: Technical Memorandum parking Inventory and Utilization: Final Report |author=Urbitran Associates Inc. |website=Connecticut Department of Transportation |at=Table 1: New haven Line Parking Capacity and Utilization, Page 6 |date=July 2003 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070712022905/http://www.ct.gov/dotinfo/lib/dotinfo/ctgov/FinalParkingReport.pdf |archive-date=July 12, 2007}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commonscat}}
{{MNR links}}
- [http://www.ct.gov/dotinfo/lib/dotinfo/ctgov/Fairfield.pdf Bureau of Public Transportation of the Connecticut Department of Transportation, "Condition Inspection for the Fairfield Station" report dated July 2002]
- [https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=41.143215,-73.25782&spn=0.003846,0.013679&z=17&layer=c&cbll=41.143215,-73.25782&panoid=yhmdkwub3ccY6yZuz4HKog&cbp=12,197.75,,0,1.96 Station House and Station from Google Maps Street View]
- http://www.ct.gov/dot/lib/dot/documents/dpt/1_Station_Inspection_Summary_Report.pdf
- [https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99184139580602061 Fairfield Station shearing photographs and Tolly Bowden oral history], State Library of Queensland
{{MNRR stations navbox}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
Category:Metro-North Railroad stations in Connecticut
Category:Stations on the Northeast Corridor
Category:Railroad stations in Fairfield County, Connecticut
Category:Buildings and structures in Fairfield, Connecticut
Category:Former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad stations
Category:Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Category:Queen Anne architecture in Connecticut
Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1848
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut