MTA Metro-North Railroad advises New Haven Line customers that Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) crews will continue their work replacing the Atlantic Street Bridge located at the east end of the Stamford station.  To accommodate the extension of this CTDOT project, the special New Haven Line schedule that took effect on June 29, will continue an additional 48 hours, through Tuesday, July 9.

 

Regular service on the New Haven Line will resume with the first scheduled train on Wednesday, July 10.

 

Because of this CTDOT project, customers will continue to experience extremely crowded trains for an additional 48-hour period. The bridge replacement work reduces the number of main-line tracks available from Stamford from five to two; it also significantly constrains the railroad’s ability to move trains into and out of Stamford Yard, one of the two major train-servicing facilities on the New Haven Line.   

 

Metro-North will cross-honor tickets on the Harlem Line for the duration of this project.

 

“Replacing the Atlantic Street Bridge is a crucial infrastructure improvement for the state of Connecticut,” said Richard Andreski, CTDOT Public Transportation Chief.  “As CTDOT crews work to complete this project, we suggest customers consider working from home to avoid crowded trains.”

 

The purpose of this project is to improve the horizontal and vertical geometry for Atlantic Street at the Metro North Railroad (MNR) Bridge, to increase the roadway capacity by providing additional travel lanes on Atlantic Street, and to improve pedestrian circulation in the vicinity of the Transportation Center to the extent possible. The project also includes provisions for an additional track for the railroad, as well as a platform to service this track.

 

Because of the reduced track capacity at Stamford, there are ten fewer westbound trains toward Grand Central Terminal in the morning rush hour, and thirteen fewer eastbound trains departing from Grand Central Terminal. Several trains have been combined and have had stops added so that there is minimal or no reduction in service frequency at New Haven Line stations, but there will be very crowded conditions.  Due to the reduced track capacity at the station, Stamford has six fewer morning rush-hour trains and ten fewer evening rush-hour trains.

 

To accommodate the bridge replacement project, the railroad must reduce the number of trains operating during rush hours; this reduction will primarily affect service at and east of Stamford.

 

Danbury Branch and Waterbury Branch service frequencies remain the same, but schedules have some adjustments in order to connect with main-line trains, and customers should be aware of schedule changes to main-line trains. Substitute busing will be in effect on the New Canaan Branch.

 

Information about the planned schedule change noted in this press release, and all planned service changes, is available through Metro-North Railroad’s real-time service information sources.

 

MYmta app & MTA.info – Customers who use the new, comprehensive MYmta app will see real-time travel information for Metro-North and connecting services all in one place, with push notifications when service is not operating normally. As a caution, trains that start out their trips on time may experience delays en route. The Metro-North Train Time app also remains available for customers to access Metro-North train information. The rail tab of the “Service Status” box at new.MTA.info is always the definitive source for the latest status for each line, updated every minute. 

 

Email and text message service updates – Customers are urged to sign up to receive the alerts by visiting MyMTAAlerts.com. To avoid unwanted messages, a user can tailor the messages to the specific branch, and the specific times of day.

 

@MetroNorth on Twitter – Twitter users can follow @MetroNorth to receive updates of a similar nature to the email and text alerts, shortened to fit Twitter’s format.

 

The above communications channels can be accessed while at home or on the go. For customers who are located at stations, Metro-North will post the latest service updates on digital signs at station platforms and will make audio announcements over public address systems, and on-board announcements made by train crews.

 

For those who prefer the telephone, information is available from the Metro-North’s Customer Service Center by calling 511, the New York State Travel Information Line, and saying: “Metro-North Railroad.” For customers calling from Connecticut, the number is: 877-690-5114.  Those who are deaf or hard of hearing can use their preferred service provider for the free 711 relay to reach Metro-North at 511.