South Norwalk
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West entrance, State Street, near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
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Location | 29 Monroe Street at 1 Chestnut Street, Norwalk, CT 06854 |
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Coordinates | 41°05′45″N 73°25′19″W / 41.09570°N 73.42185°WCoordinates: 41°05′45″N 73°25′19″W / 41.09570°N 73.42185°W | ||||||||||||||||
Line(s) | |||||||||||||||||
Platforms | 2 island platforms | ||||||||||||||||
Tracks | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
Connections | Norwalk Transit District: 10, 11, 12, Evening Shuttle, Sunday Shuttle, Norwalk Commuter Connection - Hospital-Virgin Atlantic, Merrit 7, Westport Road | ||||||||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||||||||
Parking | 816 spaces | ||||||||||||||||
Disabled access | Yes | ||||||||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||||||||
Fare zone | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
Electrified | 12,500V (AC) overhead catenary | ||||||||||||||||
Traffic | |||||||||||||||||
Passengers (2006) | 494,260 0% | ||||||||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||||||||
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The South Norwalk Metro-North Railroad station is owned and managed by the Norwalk Parking Authority, and is the most significant of three stations serving the residents of Norwalk, Connecticut via the New Haven Line. Nicknamed "SoNo" by riders and staff, the station is the point where the Danbury Branch connects to the Northeast Corridor, as well as a peak-hour terminal for some express trains. It is the last stop for New Haven super-express trains before they run non-stop to Grand Central Terminal in New York. Just east of the station is the South Norwalk Railroad Bridge, and next to that is the SONO Switch Tower Museum, a preserved switch tower which is open on summer weekend afternoons.
The predecessor station in the same location was named Norwalk & South Norwalk in timetables of the New York, New Haven and Hartford and successor Penn Central.
South Norwalk is 41 miles (66 km) from Grand Central Terminal, and the average travel time from Grand Central is 64 minutes, though this varies depending on run and time of day.
The station has approximately 800 parking spaces, none owned by the state.
The older station building at the eastbound side of the tracks contains a small restaurant, serving pizza, wine and beer. The 900-square-foot (84 m2) space is subleased from the New England Fashion Design Association.
The newer, main station building, on the westbound (New York City-bound) side of the tracks, was built in 1994. It has a cafe serving coffee and pastries during the day.
The station was the first to receive Wi-Fi service on the New Haven Line in March 2006. The service was provided for one year from a federal grant received from the "One Coast, One Future" initiative designed to help economic development in Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport. The grant provides for Wi-Fi service for one year with the expectation that local governments will provide it in the future if they find it valuable enough to do so. Similar service was planned for Stamford and Bridgeport stations in the spring of 2006 but no others. Westport also started providing the service in the spring of 2006.