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New Canaan Branch

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New Canaan Branch
New Canaan station in New Canaan.
Overview
StatusOperating
OwnerConnecticut DOT
LocaleStamford, Connecticut to New Canaan, Connecticut
Termini
Stations5
Service
TypeCommuter rail
SystemMetro-North Railroad
Operator(s)New Canaan Railroad (1868–1879)
Stamford & New Canaan Railroad (1883–1884)
NY,NH&H (1884–1969)
Penn Central (1969–1971)
ConnDOT (lessor 1971–1976, owner 1976–present)
Metro-North (operator 1983–present)
Rolling stockKawasaki M8
Technical
Line length8.2 miles (13.2 km)
Number of tracks1
CharacterCommuter rail
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification12,500 V AC catenary
Operating speed40 mph (64 km/h)
Route map

Map

41.2 mi
66.3 km
 New Canaan
39.0 mi
62.8 km
 Talmadge Hill
Woodway (closed)
Springdale Cemetery (closed)
36.9 mi
59.4 km
 Springdale
35.2 mi
56.6 km
 Glenbrook
New Haven to New Haven
Zone 31
Zone 16
33.0 mi
53.1 km
 Stamford
Amtrak Shore Line East
New Haven intermediate stops
Zone 16
Zone 1
0.0 mi
0 km
 Grand Central

The New Canaan Branch is an 8.2-mile (13 km) long branch line of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line that begins from a junction east of downtown Stamford, Connecticut north to New Canaan. It opened in 1868 as the New Canaan Railroad.

History

The New Canaan Railroad was chartered in May 1866 as a short branch of the New York & New Haven Railroad. It opened July 4, 1868 when a train ran from Stamford to New Canaan.[1] Within a year of the opening of operations a branch from the NY&NH main line south in Stamford to the pier at the Pine Island Steamboat Landing was opened to allow passengers and freight to switch to steamboats running on Long Island Sound.[2] Despite such attempts to increase revenue on January 1, 1879, the company went bankrupt, and it was taken over in foreclosure in 1883 by the Stamford and New Canaan Railroad, which incorporated in 1882.[3] The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad leased the line on October 1, 1884, and on October 1, 1890, it was merged into the NYNH&H.

On November 1, 1907, the use of 500-volt DC overhead catenary was discontinued. In 1908, it was replaced with 11,000 volt AC operation.[4] Costs were reduced by supplying the line from the Cos Cob station instead of by independent power.[5]

The NYNH&H was merged into Penn Central in 1969. On January 1, 1971, the State of Connecticut leased operation of passenger service along the New Canaan Branch to Penn Central for $100,000 per year. On July 17, 1972, Stations Woodway and Springdale Cemetery were both closed.[6] On April 10, 1972, Penn Central briefly suspended off-peak service on the branch to install high-level platforms at stations.[7] In 1983, the Metro-North Commuter Railroad took over the operation of trains on the branch.[8]

Current operation

Glenbrook station

Like the New Haven mainline from Mt. Vernon, New York to New Haven, Connecticut, the entire branch is electrified with overhead catenary, although it is currently the only entirely electrified branch of the New Haven Line. Between Mt. Vernon and Grand Central, DC third rail is used, due to the lack of catenary between the two points. Beginning in March 2011, the newly delivered Kawasaki M8 railcars started running in revenue service along the branch, and eventually took over operation from the older Budd M2 railcars. Except for the main-line portion of the route from Grand Central to Stamford and the storage tracks at New Canaan, the branch is entirely single-tracked. In contrast with the main New Haven line, there are frequent grade crossings along the branch.

Improvements

As of July 2007, a Stamford East Side station is under consideration for the line or just past it on the New Haven Line.[9]

Improvements are planned on the line to make service more frequent. A siding will be built at Springdale, and there will be station and platform improvements. Construction is expected to cost $15 million with construction starting in 2020.[10]

Incidents

On August 20, 1969 at about 8:20 p.m., a northbound commuter train with a 3-man crew and about 60 to 80 passengers hit an empty southbound train carrying only 5 employees, killing 4 and injuring 40 just north of the Hoyt Street crossing in Darien. The lead cars of each train were almost completely destroyed. The National Transportation Safety Board report concluded that the cause was the northbound train's failure to stop at a meeting point as stated on train orders.[11]

On July 13, 1976, two trains collided, killing two and injuring 29.[12] In October 1976, the CDOT released their report which only blamed the engineer of the northbound train (Number 1994) for excessive speed. The engineer's union contended that there was a problem with the train brakes, that there was an automatic track lubricator which had been putting down excessive oil for two weeks before the incident and an insufficient signal system.[13] The National Transportation Safety Board released their final report on the incident on May 19, 1977 as Report Number RAR-77-04. That report concluded that the cause was "the failure of the engineer of train No. 1994 to perceive the train ahead and to apply the brakes at the earliest possible time". It also cited problems with the design of the signal system, design of the M2's exit doors and interior design of the trains.[14]

The New Canaan Branch was severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy on October 29–30, 2012. The line was blocked by fallen trees in 37 different locations; many of these trees also brought down the overhead catenary wires. Shuttle buses replaced all trains.[15] The railroad announced that regular service resumed on November 13.[16] This resumption was marred by slippery rails caused by rain and fallen leaves, to the extent that service had to be shut down again that afternoon to deploy Metro-North's rail-washing train. Train service resumed in time for the evening commute.[17]

Stations

Talmadge Hill station over Merritt Parkway
The end of the line in New Canaan

The following connecting services are available to Amtrak,[18] Metro-North Railroad,[19] Shore Line East,[20] and CT Transit.[21]

Zone Location Station Miles (km)
from GCT 		Date
opened 		Date
closed 		Connections / notes
16 Stamford Stamford Disabled access 33.0 (53.1) 1849 Metro-North Railroad: New Haven Line
Amtrak: Acela, Northeast Regional, Vermonter
CTrail: Shore Line East (limited service)
CTtransit Stamford: 311, 312, 313, 321, 322, 323, 331, 332, 333, 334, 341, 342, 343, 344, I-BUS Express,
Stamford Commuter Shuttle, Bulls Head, North, Route 1 East[21]
Greyhound Lines, Peter Pan Bus Lines, UConn Stamford Shuttle
Limited service station
31 Glenbrook 35.2 (56.6) July 4, 1868 CTtransit Stamford: 344
Springdale 36.9 (59.4)
Springdale Cemetery July 17, 1972[22] Penn Central consolidated the Springdale Cemetery station with Springdale on July 17, 1972.[22]
Darien Woodway Penn Central consolidated the Woodway station with Talmadge Hill on July 17, 1972.[22]
New Canaan Talmadge Hill 39.0 (62.8) July 4, 1868
New Canaan 41.2 (66.3) July 4, 1868[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ "About the New Canaan Branch Line". Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  2. ^ Rosemary H. Burns. "New Canaan Railroad History".
  3. ^ Economics, Association of American Railroads Bureau of Railway (1915). Trial Bibliography on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
  4. ^ Thirty-Eighth Year General Statement On The Affairs Of The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company For The Year Ending June 30, 1909. New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company. 1909. p. 7.
  5. ^ "Conversion of New Canaan Branch From 500-Volt D.C. To 11,000-Volt A.C. Operation". Electric Railway Journal. 33 (20). McGraw Hill Publishing Company: 900–903. May 15, 1909.
  6. ^ Christopher T. Baer. "PRR CHRONOLOGY 1971 (June 2005 Edition)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 29, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
  7. ^ Christopher T. Baer. "PRR CHRONOLOGY 1972 (June 2005 Edition)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 25, 2012. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
  8. ^ Peter A. Cannito. "On MTA Metro-North Railroad's 25th Anniversary". Archived from the original on April 24, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
  9. ^ Hughes, C.J. (July 8, 2007). "Living in Glenbrook, Conn.; The Little Town in the City". New York Times. p. RE9. Retrieved July 29, 2011. Anticipating growth, and aiming to alleviate crowding in Stamford's main station, the city may add a second stop in Glenbrook, either on the New Haven line or the New Canaan spur, possibly near the Courtland Avenue overpass, where one existed until the 1950s, Mr. Lecar said.
  10. ^ "Let's Go CT Transportation Ramp Up Dashboard". www.letsgoct.com. Connecticut Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  11. ^ "RAILROAD ACCIDENT REPORT: PENN CENTRAL COMPANY COLLISION OF TRAINS N-48 AND N-49 AT DARIEN, CONNECTICUT, AUGUST 20, 1969". October 14, 1970. Retrieved June 28, 2012. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. ^ "Two killed, 29 are hurt in New Canaan rail crash". The Day, New London, CT. Front. AP. July 14, 1976. pp. 1, 5. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  13. ^ Knight, Michael (October 10, 1976). "Connecticut Transportation Unit Links Train Wreck to Speeding". New York Times.
  14. ^ "RAILROAD ACCIDENT REPORT: COLLISION OF TWO CONSOLIDATED RAILROAD CORPORATION COMMUTER TRAINS, NEW CANAAN, CONNECTICUT, JULY 13, 1976". May 19, 1977. Retrieved June 26, 2012. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. ^ Cassidy, Martin B. (November 8, 2012). "New Canaan Line restoration work continues". Stamford Advocate. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  16. ^ "MTA Metro-North Railroad". Metro-North Railroad. Retrieved November 14, 2012. Regular train service resumes on the New Canaan Branch on Tuesday, November 13.
  17. ^ Cassidy, Martin B. (November 13, 2012). "Leaves foul morning rail commute". Stamford Advocate. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  18. ^ "Amtrak" (PDF).
  19. ^ http://web.mta.info/mnr/html/planning/schedules/pdf/NH_MF_Sept_30_2018.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  20. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 9, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. ^ a b "CT Transit Stamford System Map" (PDF). CT transit. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  22. ^ a b c "Railroad Reworks Timetables". The Hartford Courant. July 18, 1972. p. 8. Retrieved May 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  23. ^ "New Canaan Train Station". Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
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