ENFIELD, CT — Construction has started on a $125.3 million project to build a new train station in Thompsonville and restore passenger rail service to Enfield for the first time since 1986, state officials announced Wednesday.
The project is expected to be completed in fall 2030, according to the announcement from Gov. Ned Lamont's office. The station will fill an approximately 15-mile gap between Springfield Union Station and Windsor Locks on the Hartford Line.
State officials project nearly 130,000 passenger trips annually by 2031, with train trips taking approximately 23 minutes to Hartford and 13 minutes to Springfield.
Lamont, state Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney and other officials joined members of the public for a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday.
"Building this new station means better access to jobs and education, while creating new opportunities for housing, businesses, and private investment in Thompsonville," Lamont said in the announcement.
The fully accessible station will feature a 350-foot-long elevated boarding platform, a mostly enclosed waiting area, covered seating, canopies and wind screens. An electric snow-melting system will serve the platform, ramps and stairs.
Plans also include passenger information displays, approximately 80 parking spaces and electric vehicle charging infrastructure serving about 15 spaces. A dedicated bus area will accommodate two full-size buses and connect passengers with Enfield's Magic Carpet bus service.
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The work extends beyond the station itself. Plans include replacing the railroad bridge over Main Street, increasing roadway clearance beneath it, adding sidewalks and improving pedestrian connections to surrounding neighborhoods.
Approximately 4,400 feet of track will be realigned, along with upgrades to signals, communications, drainage and utilities. A separate track arrangement will allow oversized freight shipments to pass through the station area.
About 85 percent of the project's funding will come from the state, with the remaining 15 percent coming from the Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Transit Administration and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to the governor's office.
The project will also involve closing the Asnuntuck Street underpass, a change the town says it has opposed. The town's station project page says officials will work with the neighborhood to address the effects of that closure.
The station is part of a broader effort to bring housing and investment to Thompsonville. Nearby plans include 156 apartments and a public riverwalk at the former power plant property at 33 North River St. Patch previously reported on a $4 million state cleanup grant intended to help prepare that property.
"For over fifteen years, my office has worked side-by-side with the Town of Enfield and the Connecticut Department of Transportation to secure this economic priority for the town," Courtney said in the announcement.
"Now, with the housing and new construction surrounding the project's groundbreaking, this is really the posterchild for transit-oriented development," he said.
State officials said the station design was coordinated with the surrounding Bigelow-Hartford Carpet Mills Historic District to preserve the neighborhood's historic character.
Project information is available through the Hartford Line Rail Program.
For more Northern Connecticut news, follow Patch editor Jay Kenney.
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