Opening 2022 (planned) Tracks 2 | Platforms in use 2 | |
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Location 33 North River Street
Thompsonville, Connecticut Line(s) New Haven–Springfield Line Similar Windsor Locks station, Hartford Union Station, Union Station | ||
Enfield is a proposed station in Thompsonville, Connecticut on the Hartford Line. It is proposed by the Connecticut Department of Transportation as one of five new stations that would be built for the line (along with North Haven, Hamden, Newington, and West Hartford). Although funds for double-tracking the line and adding commuter frequencies have been found, the three stations are not currently funded. As of late 2015, the service is scheduled to begin operation in early 2018. Enfield and the other infill stations are planned to be complete by 2022.
Contents
Amtrak
The Hartford and New Haven Railroad (H&NH) opened from Hartford to Springfield in December 1844. Thompsonville station, located on the east side of the tracks just north of Main Street, opened with the line. It was replaced by a two-story brick station around 1870, with a wooden addition for the Railway Express Agency built later on the north end of the structure.
In 1946, the second story - then rented out as apartments - and the wooden addition were removed. The modified station building was used until 1971, when Penn Central closed it shortly before Amtrak took over passenger service. Thompsonville remained a stop - daily ridership exceeded 40 on the Connecticut Yankee in 1974 - but passengers waited on the bare platform. Amtrak bought the line in 1976; after frequently vandalism and a January 26, 1980 fire they proposed the remove the boarded-up century-old building. Although it was kept for several more years for the possibility of restoration and inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, the station and the adjacent freight house were demolished in early 1983.
In 1980, Amtrak constructed several small shelters at Thompsonville station. It was part of a $12 million effort to improve the line, which included opening North Haven station and buying twelve Budd SPV-2000 railcars to increase frequencies on the Connecticut Valley Service. The station was renamed as Enfield starting with the February 1981 schedule. Service to Enfield and North Haven ended on October 28, 1986 due to low ridership; Enfield averaged five daily passengers spread between eight trains. The shelters were subsequently removed, but the crumbling platform is extant.
Hartford Line
In 2004, the Recommended Action of the New Haven Hartford Springfield Commuter Rail Implementation Study included the construction of a new Enfield station at Main Street. A preliminary design located parking lots on Main Street with a smaller lot east of the tracks.
The station is proposed to be built on Main Street at North River Street in Thompsonville, near the downtown area. Access from I-91 will be possible via CT-220. The station will consist of two 180-foot high-level platforms, each with a 100-foot shelter, connected by an elevated pedestrian bridge. A small parking lot will be built on the west side of the tracks, with a larger lot shared with the Bigelow Commons development on the east side. The station is estimated to cost $6-9.5 million. In February 2017, the state announced an additional $50 million in funds, including money to complete design of Enfield station. The state aims to complete all infill stations on the line by 2022.