Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Windsor Locks station

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Owned by
  
Town of Windsor Locks

Tracks
  
1

Station code
  
WNL

Phone
  
+1 800-872-7245

Platforms
  
1 side platform

Disabled access
  
Yes

Parking
  
100 spaces (free)

Passengers (2013)
  
18,711 1.2%

Windsor Locks station

Location
  
South Main Street at Stanton Road Windsor Locks, Connecticut United States

Address
  
South Main Street at Stanton Road, Windsor Locks, CT 06096, USA

Line(s)
  
New Haven–Springfield Line

Similar
  
Hartford Union Station, Meriden station, Windsor station, Berlin station, Wallingford station

Amtrak shuttle arriving at windsor locks station


Windsor Locks is an Amtrak train station in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, on the New Haven–Springfield Line. It is the northernmost Amtrak station in the state of Connecticut. The station today consists of an open shelter on a raised concrete platform. Bradley International Airport, the second busiest airport in southern New England, also in Windsor Locks, is 3 miles to the northwest.

Contents

The Connecticut Department of Transportation has proposed that the planned new commuter rail service called the Hartford Line stop at this station. The Hartford Line will operate between New Haven, Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts, with service scheduled to begin in early 2018.

History

The Hartford and New Haven Railroad opened through Windsor Locks in 1839. The New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad, its successor, built a new station in the town center in 1875. The station building was closed by Penn Central in 1971; Penn Central and later Amtrak passengers continued to use the platform, but Penn Central used the interior as a signal workshop. Penn Central later attempted to demolish the station, but a local group succeeded in having it listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Amtrak bought the Springfield Line infrastructure, including the "remarkably intact" station, in 1976. Service moved to the current location - a new park-and-ride stop just south of Interstate 91 - in 1981.

The 2004 Recommended Action of the New Haven Hartford Springfield Commuter Rail Implementation Study included the construction of a new Windsor Locks station on the existing south-of-downtown site. A single high-level platform was to be constructed, with a pedestrian bridge leading to an added parking area on the west side of South Main Street. A second platform serving a restored second track would have been added later.

However, local preference was to move the station stop back to the original downtown site. Spurred by a 2000 arson that damaged the structure, the Windsor Locks Preservation Association (WLPA) was formed in 2004 to support repair and reuse of the building. By 2007, the WLPA and the town had secured $274,000 of the estimated $700,000 to purchase and repair the station, and serious consideration was being given to moving the Amtrak stop there as well. However, after years of unsuccessful negotiations about the sale and future use, the WLPA disbanded in 2011. The town took over negotiations and purchased the station from Amtrak in December 2014. In 2015, the town began planning renovations of the station building for future use as a "shared workspace".

Hartford Line plans from 2012 included two possible station sites - one at the existing station with an enlargement of the current parking lot, and one at the former location with a new parking lot. Either location would have 500 feet (150 m)-long high level platforms serving the current track plus a restored second track, with a pedestrian bridge connecting the two platforms. Funding for the new station and second track were not included in initial Hartford Line funding; when the service starts in January 2018 it will stop at the existing station. In February 2017, the state announced an additional $50 million in funds, including money to complete design of the relocated Windsor Locks station.

References

Windsor Locks station Wikipedia