West Haven Train Station

Word is track 5 will officially become track 3 at the end of September when C&S finishes their work. Then all 12 car lengths of the platform will be open to train traffic as opposed to the current 6 (?).

Jersey_Mike wrote:Weren't they planning to build this station back in 2004/5? I remember seeing a local news piece about the new station in that time period and I guess I figured it would have taken less than 8 years to get it done. Are any ridership gains being projected or is this just going to siphon traffic from other stations? I also assume the former 5-stop super express trains are now going to be 6-stop.

Projected ridership is 1,620 now and 1,955 by 2025. 20% (320 - 390) of those are expected to be new trips. At $436 for a WHV-GCT monthly, that's a cool $1.8 million a year in revenue. The remaining 80% are diverted from Milford and New Haven.

They actually considered West Haven and Orange as possible sites for a new station back in the late 90s; West Haven was chosen in 2001, but Orange basically wasted the next 5 years trying to get the site switched to them. Final Environmental Impact Statement in 2007, funding in 2009, groundbreaking in late 2010, and construction began in earnest in early 2012.

Clean Cab wrote:Word is track 5 will officially become track 3 at the end of September when C&S finishes their work. Then all 12 car lengths of the platform will be open to train traffic as opposed to the current 6 (?).

I was at West Haven this morning. The bridgeplates have been removed, and while I waited for the train to GCT (which was redirected to track 4), a test train of M-8's was running back and forth through the station on the "new" track 3. I'm not sure how far it was operating, but in the half hour or so that I was there it passed 3 times. So hopefully track 3 will be in service for Monday.

Bill

it will be in service tomorrow from what I gather.

DutchRailnut wrote:it will be in service tomorrow from what I gather.

Yes it was open and bridgeplates are down.

Somebody should probably put those bridgeplates back up. Word is that train 1533 (the 5:27a New Haven departure) became stranded someplace between Milford and West Haven this morning. Ms. Scalpels's was speculating that that train was likely on the newly in-service industrial track. Anyone have any details?

I thought the tweet that brought it to my attention said 0727, but I could be wrong...and yes, yes I was speculating

I second this...was the track that the train got "stranded" on the newly in service one???

I'm probably going to railfan at W. Haven Station in the late afternoon on Friday. How is the railfanning situation there?

As of last week there were bridge plates up on the New Haven-bound side, dunno if they've come down yet.

You might want to avoid the rent-a-cops there, my friend who works for Amtrak caught the inaugural revenue ACS-64 run from Boston there and the security guard called the West Haven PD on him, who then proceeded to laugh hysterically at the security guard when the employee badge was flashed.

I personally haven't been bothered there, but I haven't actually hung around for an extended period of time, just shot a few pictures while actually waiting for a train.

There are curves on both sides of the station, but enough room to get a decent shot. The glass overhead bridge has nice views of the tracks.

The rent a cop was dead wrong, there is no photo restrictions anywhere on Metro North as long as you take pictures from public access.
a station is just that, a public access , yes it has certain rules but photography is NOT restricted, as long as you do not use tripods.
For commercial filming a permit and escort is needed.

I've never had any issues taking pictures at West Haven. I even encountered another railfan photographer who was an Amtrak employee (possibly the same one runningwithscalpels mentioned), while waiting to catch some shots of the Meadowlands train last fall. You should be able to get some good shots there.

Bill

I've never been hassled about tripod use on MNRR station platforms. You just need to use your head and not set it up in the middle of where passengers will be walking.

DutchRailnut wrote:... yes it has certain rules but photography is NOT restricted, as long as you do not use tripods.
For commercial filming a permit and escort is needed.

Wasn't Senator Blumenthal using (and even rescuing) tripods?