West Haven station

West Haven
A New Haven Line train passes West Haven
Location	20 Railroad Avenue West Haven, Connecticut 06516
Coordinates	41°16′16″N 72°57′48″W / 41.271142°N 72.963199°W / 41.271142; -72.963199Coordinates: 41°16′16″N 72°57′48″W / 41.271142°N 72.963199°W / 41.271142; -72.963199
Line(s)	New Haven Line ConnDOT:   Shore Line East
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Construction
Parking	660 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	21
History
Opened	August 18, 2013; 4 years ago (2013-08-18)
Services
Preceding station   Metro-North Railroad   Following station Milford toward Grand Central New Haven Line New Haven Union Station toward New Haven State Street Preceding station   ConnDOT   Following station Milford toward Stamford Shore Line East Limited service New Haven Union Station toward New London

ConnDOT:

West Haven is a commuter rail station on the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, located in West Haven, Connecticut. The station was built on Sawmill Road between Hood Terrace and Railroad Avenue, in the Elm Street-Wagner Place neighborhood. West Haven has 660 parking spaces in on-site lots (with the possibility of 300-400 more in a parking garage in a refurbished industrial building north of the station if warranted by future demand) as well as bicycle facilities. The station is fully handicapped accessible. West Haven has full service on the New Haven Line, as well as from the handful of Shore Line East trains which run past New Haven to Stamford.

After a decade of studies, planning, and controversy over the station site, ground was broken for the station on November 10, 2010. The $80 million project included the station, with two 12-car platforms, a glass station building, and an overhead pedestrian bridge, as well as the restoration of the formerly abandoned fourth mainline track through the station. It is only the second new station on the line in a century, after Fairfield Metro in 2011. The station opened to passengers on August 18, 2013.

In the late 1990s, Metro-North began considering adding a station in either West Haven or neighboring Orange to fill the ten-mile gap between the Milford and New Haven stations—the longest such gap on the New Haven mainline. Both town governments were supportive of a station, which was then to cost $25–30 million. Support in West Haven was largely rallied by the West Haven Train Station Committee Inc., which circulated a petition eventually signed by 7600 residents. Support in Orange was both local by the Orange Railroad Committee and also aided by several employers, including Bayer Pharmaceuticals, whose employees were likely to use the station. In fall 2001, a site study and a regional transportation committee recommended the Orange site (at Marsh Hill Road) based on cost, time considerations, and highway access. However, in December 2001, the South Central Council of Governments voted instead to support the West Haven site, citing the economic needs of West Haven versus comparatively wealthy Orange.