Brookfield station (Metro-North)
Brookfield station is a proposed passenger rail station on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, to be located in Brookfield, Connecticut.
Brookfield | |||||||||||
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The former station building in 2012 | |||||||||||
Owned by | ConnDOT | ||||||||||
Tracks | 1 | ||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||
Disabled access | |||||||||||
Brookfield Railroad Station | |||||||||||
Location | 273 Whisconier Road Brookfield, Connecticut | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 41.4823°N 73.4076°W | ||||||||||
Built | 1840 | ||||||||||
Architect | Housatonic Railroad Company | ||||||||||
Part of | Brookfield Center Historic District (ID91000992[1]) | ||||||||||
Designated CP | August 15, 1991 | ||||||||||
Proposed services | |||||||||||
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History
The Brookfield station first opened in 1840, and was built by Housatonic Railroad. The Brookfield station was located in the Iron works district of Brookfield, today known as "Four Corners" or the "Town Center District". This station was designed to be used for both passenger and freight service. On September 24, 1868, a second station had opened on Stony Hill Road that was known as "Brookfield Junction". Passenger service was operated by Penn Central until April 30, 1971.[2]
Two possible locations have been determined for a Metro-North station in the future. One proposed location is on Pocono Road across from the Brookfield Municipal Center, and the other is on Whisconier Road on the property of the Brookfield Craft Center (which utilizes the old station building as an art gallery).[3] Original plans for the station had surfaced in 2009–2010, when a study was conducted to determine the viability of the station.[4] Although plans had gone under for a while, improvements being made to the line by the State of Connecticut could mean a station in the near future.[5][6] In September 2020, due to an increase in demand for expansion of commuter rail service to Greater Danbury, the United States Department of Transportation awarded a $400,000 grant to the Western Connecticut Council of Governments to study improvements along the Danbury Branch line and develop a plan for expanding service north. This would include the construction of a North Danbury, Brookfield and New Milford station.[7]
References
- "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- http://www.tylercitystation.info/track-9---brookfield.html Brookfield and Its Railroads
- https://www.dotdata.ct.gov/DanburyBranchStudy/documents/TOD%20Report/10_Appendix%20C_Danbury%20Branch%20TOD%20Report_compressed.pdf Danbury Branch Extension Planning Documents: TOD Potential Maps
- http://patch.com/connecticut/brookfield/dot-considering-extending-rail-service-to-brookfield Metro-North Station in Brookfield
- http://www.danburybranchstudy.com/ Archived 2009-04-02 at the Wayback Machine Danbury Branch Electrification Study
- http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Metro-North-could-build-station-in-Brookfield-298049.php New station construction
- https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2020/09/17-six-rail-projects-among-58-receiving-build-grant-capital-funding Six rail projects among 58 receiving BUILD grant capital funding Another 10 projects with rail component get capital or planning funding September 17, 2020