SHARE

Metro-North Cancels One Danbury Branch Through Train, Adds Another

DANBURY, Conn. -- Say goodbye to the 4:39 p.m. weekday through train-from Grand Central Terminal to Danbury starting Sunday, April 26, as Metro-North puts new schedules into place.

Metro North has made some changes  to the Danbury through train.

Metro North has made some changes to the Danbury through train.

Photo Credit: File

Also starting Sunday under the new schedules, minor adjustments have been made in the AM and PM Peak trains, involving changes of one to two minutes to improve reliability and better reflect actual operating performance.

Weekend travel times are also temporarily lengthened to reflect the impact of several critical maintenance projects that will begin.

An analysis revealed that very few customers are using the Danbury-bound train to ride along the Danbury Branch. Of the 220 customers boarding the train at Grand Central Terminal, 200 get off at Stamford, with 20 customers on average traveling east of Stamford.

To better align service improvements with customer travel patterns, commuters traveling from Grand Central Terminal to Stamford can instead catch the 4:33 p.m. New Haven-bound train, as they did before the through-train to Danbury was instituted in May 2014.

But Metro-North stresses that there will be no reduction in the number of through-trains serving the Danbury Branch.

Metro-North will add a new through train to Danbury, departing Grand Central Terminal at 8:01 p.m., making stops at Greenwich, then all New Haven Line stops from Stamford to South Norwalk and all Danbury Branch stops.

The existing 9:18 p.m. shuttle from South Norwalk to Danbury is replaced by this new through-train. With this change, Danbury Branch customers who work late will have the opportunity for a more convenient commute without a change of trains en route.

This new train will take the place of the 8:03 p.m. train to New Haven. Customers on that train will be served by the 8:06 p.m. New Haven-bound train, which will depart Grand Central Terminal at 8:07 p.m., with additional stops at Stamford, East Norwalk, Greens Farms, and Southport.

The end result of this complex change is a better-utilized Danbury through-train, which will accommodate several hundred New Haven Line customers as well as Danbury Branch customers.

Confused yet? Go to the Metro-North website for up-to-date schedules.

to follow Daily Voice Danbury and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE