Southport station (Metro-North)

Southport station is a commuter rail station on the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, located in Southport, Connecticut. It is one of three railroad stations in the town of Fairfield, the others being Fairfield and Fairfield Metro.

Southport
Westbound station building, 2016
Location96 Station Street (eastbound)
100 Center Street (westbound), Southport, Connecticut
Coordinates41°08′09″N 73°17′20″W
Owned byConnecticut DOT; leased to Town of Fairfield
Line(s)Northeast Corridor
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks4
Connections Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority: Coastal Link
Construction
Parking179 spaces
Other information
Fare zone18
History
OpenedDecember 25, 1848[1][2]
Rebuilt1884, January 2008–February 2009
Passengers
2018358
Rank87 of 124[3]
Services
Preceding station Metro-North Following station
Green's Farms
towards Grand Central
 New Haven Line Fairfield
towards New Haven or New Haven State Street
Former services
Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station
Green's Farms
toward New York
 Main Line Fairfield
toward New Haven
Southport Railroad Stations
Coordinates41°8′11″N 73°17′10″W
Built1884
Architectural styleStick/Eastlake
NRHP reference No.89000927[4]
Added to NRHPJuly 28, 1989

The station has two offset high-level side platforms, each four cars long, serving the outer tracks of the four-track Northeast Corridor.[5]:21 It has 179 parking spaces, of which 99 are owned by the state.[6]

History
The former eastbound station in 2016

The station was opened in 1884, and the existing westbound and eastbound station buildings were constructed in the late 19th century by the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad.[7] The westbound building is wooden, built in the saltbox-style. The eastbound building is made of brick, and is no longer in railroad use. Instead, it houses a restaurant. The station agent was eliminated on January 15, 1972.[8] In 1989, the station buildings were listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the Southport Railroad Stations.

The westbound station house, one of the few remaining original station houses on the New Haven Line, was gutted by a fire on January 4, 2008. The building housed both an art gallery and a passenger waiting area prior to fire. The majority of the artwork was saved. Most of the damage done to the building during the fire was caused by the water that was being used to extinguish the fire. It was predicted that the building would have to be entirely replaced, but it was decided instead to refurbish it after the damage was assessed to be less severe than originally thought.[9] The refurbishment cost $3 million. A temporary waiting room was created for passengers at the station. The refurbishment was finished by the beginning of the next year, and was officially re-opened by then-governor Jodi Rell in February 2009.[10][11]

See also

References
  1. Jenkins, Stephen (1912). The Story of the Bronx from the Purchase Made by the Dutch from the Indians in 1639 to the Present Day. New York, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. p. 235. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  2. "Special Express Notice". The Evening Post. New York, New York. February 12, 1849. p. 3. Retrieved December 9, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. METRO-NORTH 2018 WEEKDAY STATION BOARDINGS. Market Analysis/Fare Policy Group:OPERATIONS PLANNING AND ANALYSIS DEPARTMENT:Metro-North Railroad. April 2019. p. 6.
  4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  5. "Metro-North Railroad Track & Structures Department Track Charts Maintenance Program Interlocking Diagrams & Yard Diagrams 2015" (PDF). Metro-North Railroad. 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 12, 2007. Retrieved October 24, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)"Task 2: Technical Memorandum parking Inventory and Utilization: Final Report" submitted by Urbitran Associates Inc. to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, "Table 1: New haven Line Parking Capacity and Utilization", page 6, July 2003
  7. U.S. National Park Service, Historic American Buildings Survey (1979). "New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Station, Railroad Place, Southport, Fairfield, CT." Survey No. HABS CT-293. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
  8. "7 County R.R. Stations to Quit Selling Tickets". The Bridgeport Post. January 6, 1972. pp. 1, 16. Retrieved March 28, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Connecticut Post news article (2/20/08)".
  10. http://www.connpost.com/ci_11801298
  11. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1653&dept_id=12717&newsid=20274392&PAG=461&rfi=9

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