(rshsdepot) Stamford, CT

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Train commuters applaud new platform: Stamford train station's addition
eases congestion

By Alison Damast
Special Correspondent - Stamford Advocate

July 8, 2002

STAMFORD -- As electricians and construction workers mulled around and made
last-minute electricity and escalator checks, commuters from Grand Central
Terminal in New York City stepped onto the newly constructed eastbound
center platform at the Stamford train station Friday afternoon with little
hoopla.

The platform, which will service tracks 2 and 4, will change access routes
and boarding patterns. Trains that pull into the station will be able to
open doors onto two platforms, alleviating crowding during peak commuting
hours.

Part of the Stamford Train Station Enhancement program overseen by the
Connecticut Department of Transportation, the platform is the second to be
added in the past year, giving the station four platforms.

Construction crews worked on the new platform 24 hours a day, seven days a
week for eight months, said Karl Schmidt, senior construction engineer for
Metro-North Railroad in the Connecticut projects office.

"Having this platform makes it a much more efficient operation," Schmidt
said. "This project has been a long time coming. It gives us more
flexibility and gets the commuters in faster."

On Friday, the day after the Fourth of July, Ben Perego, 25, was one of a
handful of commuters waiting on the new platform for the New Canaan-bound
train.

Though the Stratford resident typically waits on the eastbound platform,
Perego headed for the new one when he saw it was open.

"I'm very excited about it because it's more convenient for commuters to
have both sides of the train doors open," said Perego, a back office
administrator at Circle Trust Co. in Stamford. "With just one door open,
it's usually packed and it takes longer to board the train."

Elizabeth Hawley, 19, a Stratford resident and student at Fordham University
in the Bronx, N.Y., who plans to take the train to New York City in
September, said she welcomes the change.

"The station was such a mess during the fall," said Hawley, who works as an
administrative assistant at Steward Title Insurance in Stamford. "This
station definitely needed a renovation. I'm looking forward to coming up
during the fall."

The new eastbound platform is part of a $78 million construction project
that started in October 1996, said David Lavado, principal engineer for
construction with the DOT.

Other aspects of the project include replacing the overhead catenary wire
system, expanding the parking garage to double capacity and ensuring the
train station is accessible to people with disabilities.

"It's well overdue," said Lavado, who estimates the work will be completed
in June.

Though the new platform is finished, commuters must deal with construction
headaches.

Next weekend, track 3, which serves the New Canaan line, will be out of
service while construction workers replace wires, Schmidt said. Buses will
be provided for commuters from Saturday morning to Sunday evening.

Despite the headaches, commuters for the most part are glad about the new
platforms and a refurbished station.

"It can't hurt," said Marc Kinderman, 30, a free-lance television producer.
"Anything that gets the people and traffic moving is a positive thing for
this station."

  Bernie Wagenblast
  Transportation Communications Newsletter
  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications/


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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