Dover Plains (Metro-North station)

Dover Plains
Southbound train departing
Location	Market Street & Mill Street Dover Plains, New York, 12522
Coordinates	41°44′34″N 73°34′34″W / 41.7427°N 73.5762°W / 41.7427; -73.5762Coordinates: 41°44′34″N 73°34′34″W / 41.7427°N 73.5762°W / 41.7427; -73.5762
Line(s)	Harlem Line
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Connections	Dutchess County LOOP: D
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	9
History
Opened	1848
Rebuilt	1860
Services
Preceding station   Metro-North Railroad   Following station Harlem Valley – Wingdale toward Grand Central Harlem Line Tenmile River toward Wassaic   Former services   New York Central Railroad Dover Furnace toward New York City Harlem Division State School toward Chatham

The Dover Plains Metro-North Railroad station serves the residents of Dover Plains, New York via the Harlem Line. Trains leave for New York City every two hours, and about every 30 minutes during rush hour. It is 76.5 miles (123 km) from Grand Central Terminal and travel time to Grand Central is approximately two hours, two minutes.

The 7.5-mile (12 km) distance from Dover Plains to Harlem Valley – Wingdale, the next station to the south, is the longest between two stations on the Harlem Line.

Rail service in Dover Plains can be traced as far back as December 1, 1848 with the establishment of the New York and Harlem Railroad, which became part of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad in 1864 and eventually taken over by the New York Central Railroad. Besides passenger service, freight service also originated and stopped at this location, in both directions north and south. It even contained a nearby railroad hotel. As with most of the Harlem Line, the merger of New York Central with Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968 transformed the station into a Penn Central Railroad station. Penn Central's continuous financial despair throughout the 1970s forced them to turn over their commuter service to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and abandon service north of Dover Plains, thus transforming it into a terminal station in 1972. Freight service north of Dover Plains was abandoned by Conrail on March 27, 1980. The Ticket Agent/Office was closed in September 1981, however the line itself became part of Metro-North in 1983. The 1860-built NYCRR station house, now abandoned, more recently contained a local Bagel restaurant, and the former freight house also still exists. Dover Plains was a terminal station until 2000 when Metro-North expanded the line back to Wassaic.