Oh boy. This one’s a biggie. So, we have an Amtrak station in the largest city in Connecticut, and it’s hardly used on that front. But on the Metro-North front, it’s very heavily used. So, let’s take a look. This one’s gonna be long.
So, let’s start things off with the GBT bus terminal. It’s well-lit, modern, and has a direct (albeit long) on-foot connection to the southbound platform. Furthermore, all the berths are clearly labelled so no guesswork has to be done. Would be nice if they had schedule info here, though.
From here, after burning my eyes out with the dots on the buses, I went back and into the station building. On the inbound side, you have the restrooms, an MTA Police booth, an MTA information booth (unstaffed), a Quik-Trak machine, a cafe, and access to the parking garage and Water Street. The station building itself is actually located directly above Water St., so that’s cool.
Access between the platforms is done via an underpass, which also provides more street access. Elevators are also found here, as well as solicitors.
On the other side, you have a much smaller waiting room, with another ticket machine and schedule info. Not much to say here aside from the views of the Pequonnock River (try saying that 5 times over quickly!) and the interstate. Now, the platforms. You’ve got a lot of benches here, and it’s all fully sheltered. Yay! Furthermore, it’s pretty good for railfanning as you have the sharp curve coming from Stratford to the north (it’s like that to avoid the hockey arena), and a significant amount of trains. I was here during rush hour and was taken aback at just the sheer amount of trains within a 10 minute span (at least 7-8!) You still have the view of the river, but with how things are you can’t get too many good shots of trains with the river. Street access to Water St. can also be had from here as well, by way of stairs.
The good: It’s got plenty of amenities! Restaurant on-site, ticket machines, the Quik-Trak, bathrooms, a fully sheltered platform, even direct sheltered access to the bus terminal! Furthermore, it’s an amazing station to foam at, with shots of the trains coming around the curve. Plus, the fact the inbound waiting area is above Water St. is a cool thing as well, along with the shots of the river and I-95.
The bad: Why isn’t there a layover track for Waterbury trains? That’s probably the worst thing about this station.
Nearby points of interest: Downtown Bridgeport and the hockey arena!
Transit connections:
Amtrak (Northeast Regional, Vermonter)
Metro-North (New Haven, Waterbury Lines)
Port Jefferson Ferry
GBT (all)
Coastal Link
Various intercity buses
Prison (via MTA police)
Overall, it’s not a bad station. Probably among the best I’ve checked out so far. It’s like someone took the foamability of Canton Junction and gave it the amenities of Route 128 and the transit accessibility of Forest Hills, and threw it into Connecticut. This is, quite possibly, among my favorite stations.
Rating: 8.5/10
