A Metro North train nears the Bethel, Conn. train station
Low ridership has forced Metro-North to eliminate the 4:29 PM direct train from Grand Central Terminal to Danbury.
But Metro-North and the state Department of Transportation say there will be no reduction in the number of through trains serving Danbury,
Instead, Metro-North will add a new through train to Danbury, departing Grand Central Terminal at 8:01 PM, making stops at Greenwich, then all main line and Danbury Branch stops from Stamford to Danbury.
Last May, Metro-North instituted a new weekday through train from GCT to Danbury at 4:29 PM, taking the place of an existing shuttle train that ran from Stamford to Danbury.
But the Department of Transportation said in a release “an analysis of the ridership impacts of this change, including multiple customer counts, has revealed that very few customers are using this service.. Of the 220 customers boarding the train at Grand Central Terminal, approximately 200 get off at Stamford; only 20 customers on average travel east of Stamford.”
Starting after April 26, the that train will return to its previous schedule, as a shuttle train from Stamford to Danbury. Customers traveling from Grand Central Terminal to Stamford will instead leave four minutes later on the 4:33 PM New Haven train, as they did before the institution of the new through Danbury train.
The new direct train will affect some existing Metro-North train schedules.
Here’s how the DOT describes the changes:
The existing 9:18 PM 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 home at night, without a change of trains en route.
This new train will take the place of the 8:03 train to New Haven. Customers on that train will be served by the 8:06 PM New Haven train, which will depart Grand Central Terminal at 8:07 PM and make additional stops at Stamford, East Norwalk, Green’s Farms, and Southport.
DOT says “the end result of this complex change is a better-utilized Danbury through train, which will accommodate several hundred main line customers as well as Danbury Branch customers.”