Branford is a station along the

CTrail CT Rail, stylized as CT''rail'', is the brand for commuter rail services overseen by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), in the U.S. state of Connecticut, with some service extending into Massachusetts. CTDOT oversees two lines: ...

Shore Line East Shore Line East (SLE) is a commuter rail service which operates along the Northeast Corridor through southern Connecticut, United States. The rail service is a fully owned subsidiary of the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and i ...

commuter railroad between Stamford and

New London New London may refer to: Places United States *New London, Alabama *New London, Connecticut *New London, Indiana *New London, Iowa * New London, Maryland *New London, Minnesota *New London, Missouri *New London, New Hampshire, a New England town * ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. The station itself is located in

Branford, Connecticut Branford is a shoreline New England town, town located on Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, about east of downtown New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven. The population was 28,273 at the 2020 United Sta ...

. Branford is also a station on the northern section

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

does not stop at the station but Amtrak trains pass through it.

History

Prior to the establishment of the Shore Line East system on May 29, 1990, Branford was a stop for Amtrak's '' Beacon Hill'' trains. The current station, with an ADA-compliant 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 platforms ...

, opened on August 8, 2005, replacing a nearby earlier station with low-level platforms. Ridership increases rendered the 199-spot parking lot at Branford insufficient. As a result, a 272-spot expansion was opened in June 2011, bringing total available parking at the station to 471 spots. However, the expanded lot has consistently failed to be fully used, leading to calls for it to be replaced by

transit oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between ...

and a smaller parking deck. A second platform on the north side of the tracks was originally to be constructed beginning in November 2012. Construction on the $16.5M project–which includes the new platform, a pedestrian overpass with elevators, a drop-off lot on the north side of the tracks, and restoration of an existing parking lot–began in September 2013. Major construction took place in 2014 with the intention to open the new platform by August 2015. However, delays were suffered from Amtrak taking 70 days to allow ConnDOT crews to enter the property, and for 300 days for the redesign of retaining walls and the completion of maintenance closets. By September 2015, the new platform and pedestrian bridge were scheduled to open on December 18, 2015, but this was delayed into 2016 due to the previous harsh winter and components for a train warning system being unavailable. By late May 2016, the station was expected to open in mid to late June. The north-side drop-off area and pedestrian bridge were opened on September 30, 2016, although trains did not immediately use the north platform. Service using the north platform–including stops on some trains that formerly bypassed Branford–began on November 5, 2016.

Other train stations in Branford

Downtown Branford was not the only part of Branford with a train station. Stations were located at Pine Orchard (off Totoket Road) and Stony Creek (off Thimble Island Road) in Stony Creek. Both stops served the '' Clamdigger'' until it was discontinued on January 28, 1972. Stony Creek was also a stop on a later reincarnation of the ''Clamdigger'', which ran for three months in 1978 before it was replaced by the ''Beacon Hill''.

Station layout

Branford has two high-level

s, each two cars long. Before 10:00am, westbound trains use Track 2 and eastbound trains use Track 1. After 10:00am, westbound trains use Track 1 and eastbound use Track 2. On weekends, this swap occurs around 1:00pm.

References

External links

Shore Line East - Branford
{{Amtrak Connecticut stations Shore Line East stations Stations on the Northeast Corridor Railroad stations in New Haven County, Connecticut Buildings and structures in Branford, Connecticut Former Amtrak stations in Connecticut Former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad stations Demolished railway stations in the United States 2005 establishments in Connecticut Railway stations in the United States opened in 1990 Transportation in New Haven County, Connecticut