Noroton Heights station

Station layout

The station has two high-level side platforms that serve the outer tracks of the four-track Northeast Corridor. The northern (westbound) platform is 10 cars long, while the southern platform is 9 cars long.

The Noroton Heights station building is "unique in that it resembles an overgrown Plexiglass [sic] shelter protected by a metal lean-to," according to a January 2007 Connecticut Department of Transportation report. The Noroton Heights station is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. All the railroad parking at the station (772 spaces) is owned by the state. The farthest available parking spaces are as much as 1,500 feet from the station.

History

As of January 2007, Northeast Utilities had plans to put an underground 345-kV cable along the south edge of the eastbound parking lot (just north of Interstate 95). The state Department of Transportation agreed to the location because it would "minimize the potential impact to any future parking structure built at this site."

In 1989, the attractive former station building was slated for demolition. Instead, a group of Darien residents changed it into "The Depot", a youth center. The building remains at the far end of the train station, near the intersection of Noroton Avenue and Heights Road. Across the train tracks from "The Depot" is the Post 53 ambulance unit (which previously occupied "The Depot" building before moving into its current headquarters).

In recent years the town government of Darien has been collecting parking revenue from the station, which has gone into an improvement fund. The stairs leading to Hollow Tree Ridge Road were replaced in late 2010 along with new lighting being installed. Renovations will also include an update to the overpass (which will be closed for renovations starting June 6, 2011). The improvement project is running behind schedule with the original completion date being December 2010, no new date has been announced.

A $8 million reconstruction of the station platforms began in March 2017, with completion then planned for late 2018.

References

References

1. (March 8, 1972). "Groundbreaking Set Monday for New Station in Darien". The Bridgeport Post.
2. (May 23, 1974). "DOT to Dedicate Noroton Heights Railroad Station". [[The Hartford Courant]].
3. (April 2019). "Metro-North 2018 Weekday Station Boardings". Metro-North Railroad Market Analysis/Fare Policy Group.
4. (January 6, 1972). "7 County R.R. Stations to Quit Selling Tickets". The Bridgeport Post.
5. (2015). "Metro-North Railroad Track & Structures Department Track Charts Maintenance Program Interlocking Diagrams & Yard Diagrams 2015". Metro-North Railroad.
6. "Archived copy".
7. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110519163546/http://www.ct.gov/dot/lib/dot/documents/dpt/Noroton_Heights_Individual_Station_Report.pdf] Bureau of Public Transportation of the Connecticut Department of Transportation, "Noroton Heights Train Station Visual Inspection Report" dated January 2007 (although parts of the inspection were carried out in September 2006)
8. "Untitled Document".
9. Fisher, Joshua. (July 19, 2007). "Klein touts record: Won't say if she's running (But it sounds like it)". The Darien Times.
10. (March 21, 2017). "Noroton Heights Railroad Station Platform Replacement". Connecticut Department of Transportation.
11. Shultz, Susan. (September 2, 2018). "DOT says Noroton Heights train station construction is progressing on schedule". Darien Times.