Hartford Union Station

Hartford Union Station is the main train station in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. The historic station building is near the State Capitol Building. It is a Richardsonian Romanesque building designed by George Keller, executed by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge and built in 1889. A 1914 fire required a rebuild; the interior was renovated in 1987.[2] It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975.

Hartford
Hartford Union Station in December 2017
Location	One Union Place Hartford, Connecticut United States
Coordinates	41°46′08″N 72°40′54″W
Owned by	Greater Hartford Transit District
Line(s)	New Haven–Springfield Line
Platforms	1
Tracks	1 (Formerly 4)
Train operators	Amtrak and CTrail
Bus stands	15
Bus operators	CTtransit Hartford CTfastrak Greyhound Lines Peter Pan Bus Lines
Connections	CT Transit: 32, 34, 36, 38, 44, 45, 60, 62, 64, 66, 72, 74, 76, 82, 83, 84, 901, 903, 904, 905, 906, 907, 909, 910, 912, 913, 914, 915, 917, 918, 921, 923, 924, 925, 926, 927, 950 CTfasttrak: 101, 102, 128 Bradley Flyer (Route 30) Hartford dash Shuttle
Construction
Parking	Yes (paid)
Bicycle facilities	Bike lockers Bike rentals
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	HFD (Amtrak)
History
Opened	1889
Rebuilt	1914, 1987
Traffic
Passengers (FY2018)	150,611[1]  17.8% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Berlin toward New Haven Hartford Line Windsor toward Springfield Berlin toward Norfolk, Newport News or Roanoke Northeast Regional Berlin toward New Haven Valley Flyer Windsor toward Greenfield Meriden toward Washington, D.C. Vermonter Windsor Locks toward St. Albans Preceding station ConnDOT Following station Sigourney Street toward Downtown New Britain CTfastrak Terminus Berlin toward New Haven Union Station Hartford Line Windsor toward Springfield Flatbush Avenue (proposed) toward New Haven Union Station
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Berlin toward Washington, D.C. Montrealer Springfield toward Montreal
Hartford Union Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Union Place, Hartford, Connecticut
Area	3 acres (1.2 ha)
Built	1889
Architect	George Keller
Architectural style	Richardsonian Romanesque
NRHP reference No.	75001932
Added to NRHP	November 25, 1975
Location
Hartford Location within Connecticut

It is located along Amtrak's New Haven–Springfield Line which branches off from the Northeast Corridor in New Haven. Of the 12 Connecticut stations served by Amtrak, Hartford was the third busiest in fiscal year 2017.[3]

Building

The station entrance

Station interior

The station is located on the western edge of downtown Hartford, on a three-acre (1.2 ha) block between Union Place and Spruce Street on the east and west and Church and Asylum streets to the north and south.[4] Opposite the main building on Union Place are a mixture of other old buildings and parking lots. To the west is a triangular parking lot and the viaduct carrying Interstate 84 and U.S. Route 6, which curves around the north of the station as well. Across Asylum on the south is Bushnell Park, also listed on the Register.

The main building is located between the tracks and Union Place. It is a three-story rectangular building in rough-faced Portland brownstone with two smaller, similarly shaped two-story wings on the north and south. The main building has a flat roof; the wings are gabled and tiled, with dormer windows piercing them at regular intervals.[4]

On the east (front) facade, a wide set of steps rises to the main entrance, beneath a flat hood at the springlines of three of the large segmental arches that run across the first story. Above these is a stylized floral molded course. The second story has similar but smaller segmental arches set with a recessed panel and four-pane windows. The central bay has "1914" carved into its panel; all others are blank. The two wings have four-pane rectangular windows.[4]

At the station level were originally four tracks (currently one) divided by a middle platform. Two sets of iron roofs create a train shed. On the wall side those roofs are supported by spiral-shaped iron brackets. In the middle columns and simple curved iron brackets support the trusses that hold up the shed roof.[4]

The interior has been remodeled since the station was rebuilt. It is a mostly open area with stairs along the west wall leading up to the elevated tracks and benches along the east. Flooring is red tile. There are offices on the north and south; some look out over the main space.

History

The station in 1912

The station was built in 1889, and served the Hartford and New Haven Railroad, Central New England Railway, Hartford and Connecticut Valley Railroad (all of which were acquired by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad) and the New York and New England Railroad, but the entire structure had to be rebuilt after a fire in 1914.[2] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as "Hartford Union Station" in 1975.[5]

The station is currently served by one track and a side platform. The second track and platform were removed by Amtrak in the 1990s to reduce maintenance costs and because the underlying structure is no longer strong enough to support more than one train at a time. A 260-foot (79 m) section of the platform was converted to high level for accessible boarding as part of the Hartford Line project. It features a 29-inch (740 mm)-wide hinged edge that can be flipped up to allow wide freight trains to pass. The new platform opened on August 4, 2016.[6][7]

The I-84 Hartford Project may require realigning the highway and rail line, in which case new platforms would be constructed on the new alignment, though Union Station would continue to be used for ticketing and waiting area. The state released a slate of 5 options - some just west of the current station, others slightly to the south - in October 2017. A decision on which option will be built was expected in early 2018.[8]

Services

Amtrak

An Amtrak Shuttle (nowHartford Line) at Hartford in 2005

Hartford is situated midway along the New Haven–Springfield Line, a non-electrified branch of the electrified Northeast Corridor. Amtrak operates four services through Hartford, with a total of about sixteen trains per day in each direction. The Northeast Regional and Vermonter run through from Washington, D.C. or points in Virginia, with an engine change at New Haven. Hartford Line trains travel between New Haven and Springfield, along with Valley Flyer trains, though the latter continues on to Greenfield, Massachusetts.[9] Both services connect with other Northeast Regionals and Metro-North New Haven Line trains in New Haven.[10]

Hartford Line

See also: Hartford Line

Hartford Line commuter rail service started on June 16, 2018, stretching from New Haven to Springfield.[11] Service is split between Amtrak's Hartford Line trains and Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTrail) trains.

CTfastrak

Union Station serves as the northeastern terminus for CTfastrak, a bus rapid transit system operating between the station and Downtown New Britain in central Connecticut. Operated by Connecticut Transit, CTfastrak opened on March 28, 2015, after fifteen years of planning and three years of construction. Five local and four express routes operate along the busway and over on-street loops in downtown Hartford.[12]

Buses and shuttles

CTTransit's Hartford Division provides bus service to the station on a variety of routes, including lines 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 44, 45, 60, 62, 64, 66, 72, 74, 76, 82, 83, 84, 101, 102, 128, 901, 903, 904, 905, 906, 907, 909, 910, 912, 913, 914, 915, 917, 918, 921, 923, 924, 925, 926, 927, 950, and DASH.

Other providers at Union Station are Greyhound, Peter Pan, and Connecticut Limo.[13][14][15]

See also

 Connecticut portal  Architecture portal  Trains portal  National Register of Historic Places portal

References

1. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2018, State of Connecticut" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2019. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
2. "Union Station History". Retrieved April 25, 2018.
3. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2017, State of Connecticut" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
4. Clouette, Bruce; National Register of Historic Places nomination, Hartford Union Station; National Park Service; July 9, 1975, retrieved April 9, 2011.
5. "Asset Detail: Hartford Union Station". National Park Service. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
6. "O&G Completes Upgrades to Hartford's Union Station". High Profile. August 3, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
7. "Construction Progresses at Hartford Line Stations" (PDF). New Haven - Hartford - Springfield Rail Program Newsletter. Connecticut Department of Transportation: 2. Fall 2016.
8. Gosselin, Kenneth (October 30, 2017). "Options Emerge For New Hartford Train Station As Part Of I-84 Reconstruction". Hartford Courant. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
9. "Vermonter and Valley Flyer Schedule" (PDF). Amtrak. September 23, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
10. "Northeast Corridor Boston–Washington, D.C. Schedule" (PDF). Amtrak. September 23, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
11. "CTrail Hartford Line Rail Service Scheduled to Launch June 16; Commemorative Inaugural Event to be Held Friday, June 15" (Press release). Connecticut Department of Transportation. April 17, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
12. "Despite Snow, Thousands of Riders, Many First-Timers, Experience CTfastrak on First Day of Service" (Press release). Connecticut Department of Transportation. March 28, 2015.
13. "Hartford, CT Bus Station". Greyhound.
14. "Hartford". Peter Pan.
15. Connecticut Limo https://ctlimo.com/. Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

• Hartford Union Station – Amtrak
• Hartford – Hartford Line
• Hartford Union Station - Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• Hartford Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)