Half-Hour Service Added to New Haven Rail Line & Credit Cards Now Accepted on Danbury Line

For the past two years, in an effort to enhance the commuter experience, the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), in conjunction with Metro-North, has been making incremental services changes. The planned changes will begin on November 9th, and will be as follows:

Metro-North will be adding a half-hourly service between New Haven and New York in off-peak hours and on the weekends.

• Weekdays: inbound from after the AM Peak until 6:47 p.m. from New Haven, outbound from Grand Central Terminal from 5:49 a.m. until midnight (except during the PM Peak, when service is more frequent)
• Saturdays: inbound from 6:46 a.m. until 6:46 a.m. from New Haven,
• outbound from 10:04 a.m. until 10:34 p.m.
• Sundays: inbound from 7:46 a.m. until 7:46 p.m. from New Haven, outbound from 11:04 a.m. until 10:34 p.m.

Metro North also plans to add a PM Peak train to help alleviate overcrowding on the 6:31 p.m. train from New York to New Haven.

• Departing Grand Central Terminal at 6:35 p.m., stopping in Greenwich, Stamford, Noroton Heights, Darien, Rowayton, and South Norwalk.
• Departing Grand Central Terminal, the 6:47 p.m. train will now leave at 6:53 p.m., bypassing Stamford
• Departing Grand Central Terminal, the 7:06 p.m. train will now leave at 6:49 p.m., bypassing Stamford

Credit Cards Now Accepted on Danbury Branch Rail Line

In an effort to increase customer convenience the Connecticut DOT recently announced that credit cards will now be accepted to purchase tickets on board Metro-North’s Danbury Branch Line and a portion of the New Haven Line.

Be advised, tickets purchased on the train cost $5 to $6.50 more than those purchased at a vending machine or a window inside the station.

The full DOT release is below.

If you have any questions, please visit the CTDOT website or call 860-594-3062.

Credit Cards Now Accepted on Danbury Branch Rail Line

The Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) today announced that commuters on the Danbury Branch of the New Haven rail line may now use credit cards to purchase tickets on board the train. It is part of a pilot project before opening up the entire New Haven Line to credit card usage next year.

On-board purchases are always the most expensive ticket option – they are $5 to $6.50 higher than a ticket bought at the station or a ticket vending machine – but many commuters have expressed a preference for the convenience of using a credit card.

Metro-North, which operates the New Haven Line under contract to the DOT, will begin offering the use of credits cards on the entire New Haven Line system at some point in 2015. In addition to the main line between New Haven and New York City, there are three branch lines – to New Canaan, Danbury and Waterbury.