New Canaan station is a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...

station on the

New Canaan Branch The New Canaan Branch is an 8.2-mile (13 km) long branch line of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line that begins from a junction east of downtown Stamford, Connecticut, north to New Canaan. It opened in 1868 as the New Canaan Railroad. ...

of the Metro-North Railroad's

New Haven Line The Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line is a commuter rail line running from New Haven, Connecticut to New York City. It joins the Harlem Line at Mount Vernon, New York and continues south to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The New Haven ...

New Canaan, Connecticut New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census. About an hour from Manhattan by train, the town is considered part of Connecticut's Gold Coast. The town is bound ...

History

The New Canaan Railroad was chartered in May 1866 as a short branch of the

New York & New Haven Railroad The New York and New Haven Railroad (NY&NH) was a railroad connecting New York City to New Haven, Connecticut, along the shore of Long Island Sound. It opened in 1849, and in 1872 it merged with the Hartford & New Haven Railroad to form the New ...

from its main line at Stamford to New Canaan. The branch and this station opened on July 4, 1868. The town of New Canaan bought an option for a site on Old Stamford Road in March 1955, which would allow the town to build a new station with a parking lot, and the

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

announced plans for the new station and parking lot that September. The railroad and town signed an agreement in 1958 to build a new station at Fairty Orchards, about south of the old New Canaan station, and the railroad asked the town of New Canaan to acquire the existing New Canaan station the following January. The railroad and the town agreed on final plans in June 1959, and officials had announced their plan to build the station at Fairty Orchards by that September. Residents narrowly voted against the planned station that November, and they voted down the plan again in 1961 by a much wider margin. On July 13, 1976, two trains collided at the New Canaan station, killing two and injuring 29. In October 1976, the CDOT released their report, which only blamed the

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

of the northbound train for excessive speed. The National Transportation Safety Board also recommended that an automatic safety system be installed near the New Canaan station. The station platform was closed for several months in 1982 because it was crumbling; during that time, only the last two or three cars opened their doors at the station. In 1998, the state began a 10-year lease (ending June 30, 2008) to the town at both the Talmadge Hill and New Canaan stations, allowing the town to perform some maintenance, repairs and cleaning while the state retains responsibility and control over major structural renovations and repairs. Money collected for parking goes into a special fund to be used for station-related purposes with the state's approval, and the state also must approve parking-fee regulations. The town has the option of renewing the lease for another 10-year term.
Connecticut Department of Transportation Individual Station Report for Talmadge Hill, 2003, accessed July 22, 2007 On July 7, 2010, the ticket office at the station was closed, with vending machines on the platforms still available. On the morning of February 14, 2023, a train collided at low speed with a bumping-block device at the station, causing damage to one M8 (railcar), M8 railcar and to the sidewalk at the intersection of Park and Elm Streets. The train's only occupants – an engineer and a conductor – sustained minor injuries.

Station layout

The station has one five-car-long high-level

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...

to the west of the tracks. The station is served by 3 tracks from the

. Two tracks east of the platform track are used for train storage. The station has commuter parking in several parking lots within a short walk from the station. There are two lots near the station with numbered spaces for daily parking.

References

External links

Station House from Google Maps Street View

Station from Park Avenue from Google Maps Street View
{{MNRR stations navbox Metro-North Railroad stations in Connecticut Former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad stations Railroad stations in Fairfield County, Connecticut Buildings and structures in New Canaan, Connecticut Railway stations in the United States opened in 1868 1868 establishments in Connecticut