Parking on the New Haven Line

My wife and I need to get to Manhatten shortly after noon on Monday and am coming from the eastern Massachusetts area. I am not familiar with the parking situation on this line at all. I would like to drive somewhere along this line, park and take the commuter rail in. Where would be the most likely place I would be able to find a public parking place with room (and safety) around 11am to 1pm? I would probably be returning somewhere around 6pm to 8pm.
I tried searching this forum but could not come up with any information.

Thanks, Jerry

Your best bet is to go to http://www.mta.info then click on the link to Metro North Railroad and then the link to available parking (http://www.mta.info/mnr/html/parking.htm). Here you will find a drop down list of the stations and who runs the parking for the individual stations.

Have you considered Amtrak as an alternative to driving all the way to I presume New Haven. It might not be efficient driving miles through Connecticut along the Northeast Corridor just to find parking when you could take Amtrak from Boston or Providence.

New Haven has plenty of parking - if not in the actual adjacent garage, there are plenty of surrounding ones. Rear of Signal is right though, honestly it would probably be cheaper and more convenient to just take Amtrak from Providence or something...and driving any farther than New Haven would just be stupid. The time of return you mention doesn't sound problematic, although if you park in a garage other than the one directly next to New Haven Union, you might want to check what time they close at - I went into the city once midday and the official station garage was packed and we got back around 2am or something (We were seeing a concert at Madison Square Garden) and the garage was closed. We got in from a door that was ajar, but once we got to our car we were SOL. Luckily some security guy came to check on the place and let us out.

Thanks for the replies so far. Amtrak is fine for getting there, but returning is a problem. My only choice of trains returning are 176 which leaves too early or 94 which arrives in Boston too late. (Acelas are not an option.) A couple of years ago, I went to New Haven to meet some one and then go on to New York. The station's parking lot was too full and I was directed to a lot a number of blocks away. The person I met in New Haven picked me up at that off site location but when we returned from New York, we had to walk from the station to where my car was parked. There was supposed to be a shuttle but we couldn't find it or find out if it was still running. My wife and I are in our 70's and it was not a comfortable walk. So, what I am trying to fnd out if there is a station on the line that has available parking around noon time near the station. Around my local location, I know of only one station that has any public parking after 7am until mid-afternoon. I assume that is probably the situation down there. is there any hope?

Jerry

I, too, am in my 70's and IF I were going to travel from Eastern Massachusetts to New York I would NOT drive any farther than I absolutely had to. If you insist on driving to Connecticut I would suggest a place that has less service but better parking. Berlin, Connecticut is a good example with six round trips, a staffed station M-F, decent parking at the station and the price is right (free). A couple of addional possibilities could be Kingston, RI with lots of Amtrak service, Derby, Connecticut on the Waterbury Branch of Metro-North with connecting service to Bridgeport and maybe one or two other stations that see fewer trains but much less use as well. At New Haven the parking garage fills up quite early and after that you will have to hunt for something. Again if it were me I would make use of the excellent service provided out of Boston or Providence.
Noel Weaver

If Amtrak doesn't fit into your time frame the furthest I would drive is New Haven. Any thing past New Haven and then finding parking becomes a problem. Go for New Haven if return time on Amtrak is a problem.

Does anyone know what the parking situation is like at any of the Shoreline East stations? Would that be a reasonable alternative than schleping around New Haven for them, and it has the benefit of being *slightly* closer to where they're coming from?

For SLE stations, I'd avoid Old Saybrook and Westbrook. I used to park at OSB but since then I hear the lot is really packed on weekdays. Westbrook is undergoing expansion and has very limited parking. Clinton doesn't have much parking to begin with. I'd give Branford, Guilford, or Madison a shot. IIRC, Branford recently opened a new parking lot. Parking is free at all of these stations.

Bridgeport. Right off exit 27 of 95, the arena garage just finish complition of the 5th and 6th story, and I believe parking is only $6...

...HOWEVER, and this is a big caviot, the garage closes at midnight, so the latest train you can take back and not get stuck there is the 10:22.

The lot at the new Fairfield Metro station is huge, and being a new station I'd have a hard time believing it's already filled to capacity (but I don't live anywhere near there so can't say for sure). The area seemed reasonably safe (although it is right next to Bridgeport). It's not especially well signed from I-95 (or at least wasn't a couple months ago) but was still pretty easy to find.

there is room in old saybrook just need to find it

Locally, New Haven has been looking for decades to have a second parking garage built at Union Station so more people can easily commute by rail; the garage has been stalled and shelved due in the past to fights between City Hall and the state as well as continual changes in personnel. Gov. Malloy claimed the wait is nearly over. He said the state will issue a request for proposal for a new garage in 60 days.

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/inde ... is_coming/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There have been a number of studies done over the years. The article doesn't say how many parking spaces will be in the new garage.