2005: A Replacement Train Station in Connecticut is Opened to Commuters

November 28, 2005

In south-central Connecticut, a newly built train station in the town of Guilford was opened for use. Guilford station, which is maintained by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), is part of the regional commuter rail service formally known as Shore Line East (SLE). SLE operates in southern Connecticut along a segment of the Northeast Corridor, a railroad line between Boston and Washington, D.C. that is primarily owned by Amtrak. SLE is overseen by CTDOT under the brand CT Rail.

The original station at that site in Guilford had been built during the early 1850s as part of the New Haven and New London Railroad. Most of the local train service there was phased out by the mid-20^th century and that longtime station was finally torn down on February 23, 2000. “The old station has not been used by passengers for a number of years and was in miserable condition,” reported TrainWeb.org at the time. The only still-standing infrastructure that had been installed near the station during the 19^th century are a water tower and engine house.

The present-day version of Guilford station was constructed as part of a larger plan to improve accessibility, operations, and safety for SLE commuters. The key features of Guilford station include high-level platforms for train passengers; and a pedestrian overpass allowing commuters to more easily park their vehicles or be dropped off on either side of the tracks.

M. Jodi Rell, who was governor of Connecticut from 2004 to 2011, highlighted the overall benefits of Guilford’s newest station at the time of its opening. “It is great to see this station open for public use,” she noted. “The work completed at the Guilford Train Station provides a safe and convenient location for Connecticut commuters to board Shore Line East trains.”

Photo Credit: Pi.1415926535 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pi.1415926535) — licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

For more information on the opening of the current version of Guilford station, please check out https://portal.ct.gov/DOT/CTDOT-Press-Releases/2005/GUILFORD-TRAIN-STATION-OPENS

Additional information on Shore Line East is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shore_Line_East