Work to Begin on Three Danbury RR Branch Crossings

Buses Will Replace Weekend and Off-Peak Trains

      Work on three street-level crossings and track resurfacing on the Danbury Branch of the New Haven commuter rail line will require the use of substitute busing for weekend and off-peak trains in mid-August.

      On the weekends of August 8-10, August 15-17 and August 22-24, all trains will be replaced by buses, beginning at 9 p.m. Friday and continuing through midnight on Sunday. On the weekdays of August 18-22 and August 25-28, all off-peak (non-rush hour) trains will be replaced by buses.  Special bus schedules will be in effect (check www.mta.info/mnr).

      The crossings are at Wilton Station, where there are two, and at Portland Avenue in the Branchville section of Ridgefield. Crews will be lifting out the tracks, cleaning the crossing foundations and bolstering the ballast shoulders of the crossings. The work will be paid for by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT), which owns the New Haven Line, at a cost of approximately $2 million.

      In November, the DOT and Metro-North completed a new signal system project for the entire Danbury Branch. Branch Line service was expanded as the result of the project upgrade and construction of several portions of parallel track, or sidings, allowing for the ability to operate more than one train along the corridor at a time.

      Since then, there have been some maintenance and reliability issues at some of the street-level, or “at-grade,” crossings.

      The New Haven Line is operated by Metro-North under contract to the DOT and is the busiest commuter line in the country.

All Metro-North train schedules are available at www.mta.info/mnr.