Stamford Station - Track 1

Track 1 isn't used all that much. All trains stop there, so it seems a bit of a waste.

Why not remove it, shift tracks 4 and 2 (the new 1) in, and widen the platforms, which are overcrowded?

Track 1 gets its fare share of usage. Eliminating a fully usable mainline track to widen an already long platform would be a step backwards. A sixth track solely for the New Canaan shuttle is already being added to supplement capacity.

I don't know, Greg. I've never seen it used. The platforms are long, but not particularly wide, and usually crowded.

Pre-covid I would see it used from time to time during the morning rush. Not all trains stop at Stamford. In the current schedule, 1427, 1529 and 1731 all skip Stamford GCT bound and all three come through Stamford within about a 10 minute window between 7:35 - 7:45. Not sure any use track one on a regular basis, but wouldn't be surprised at all to find that they use it when the station is congested. I'd also guess that some of the morning put-ins at Greenwich, New Rochelle and Harrison use Track 1 to avoid the congestion at the station. coming down from the yard.

Track one is used for equipment to changes end coming into or out of the yard. Such as trains coming out of the yard and deadheading up to New Canaan or Danbury or Waterbury in the morning. Getting rid of it would cause congestion and force the RTC to use a platform track for a train not making a station stop.

Yes, when the Waterbury Branch had the express train to Stamford, once in the morning and once in the evening, they would change the set each time around every 12 hours. After discharging passengers, they would move the set to track 1 and idle until the next set is ready for service or if the second set was already ready, it would wait on track 1. Not sure if the Danbury Branch does this but the Waterbury does. Waterbury still changes sets every 12 hours for fueling and whatnot, just not in revenue service.