Stamford Train Station, Oct. 2006

The Stamford Metro-North Railroad station serves the residents of Stamford, Connecticut via the New Haven Line. Some Amtrak Northeast Corridor trains also stop at Stamford. It is 33 miles from Grand Central Terminal. Just north of the station is the split for the New Canaan Branch. A few Shore Line East trains terminate at Stamford during the morning rush hour, and originate there in the evening.

Continental Airlines codeshares with Amtrak to provide service out of Stamford station to the train station at Continental's Northeast hub, Newark Liberty International Airport. As such, the train station has the IATA Airport Code (as an IATA-indexed train station) ZTF.

As of August 2006, weekday commuter ridership for Metro-North was 7,147 and there were 2,215 parking spaces.

In 2001, on the other hand, there was an average of 6,100 weekday inbound boardings---2,942 during peak times and 3,158 during off-peak times.

The main station concourse straddles the tracks of the Northeast Corridor, and contains a passenger waiting area, a newsstand, a Dunkin' Donuts, and Java Joe's. Downstairs below the platform level in the tunnel there is an MTA police station, Juan's Barbershop, a watch and shoe repair stores, and The Cellar Wine and Beer Liquor Store. There is also a Greyhound/Peter Pan office and CT transit office. Stairs and escalators lead to the platform level. Stamford has four high-level platforms, which give access to four tracks. A fifth track lies between the express tracks, so that Amtrak and peak-hour Metro-North trains not stopping there may bypass the station at full speed safely. Across the street from the station, and connected to the concourse by two pedestrian bridges, is a large parking garage. There is also a local bus terminal near the train station.

In 1987, the New York Times published a review of the then-new Stamford Transporataion Center by architecture critic Paul Goldberger. The station was criticized for "a harshness almost unequaled in contemporary architecture" as well as for cost overruns and many functional failings, including the lack of shelter for the track platforms. The route from the cross-tracks waiting room to the platform was so long and indirect that passengers who waited indoors until a train's arrival is announced could not get to the platform in time to board it.

A complete renovation of the station in the early 2000s attempted to address these problems. The two platforms were made island platforms, capable of serving four tracks. Added features included platform canopies, stairs and escalators directly from the waiting room for the tracks, and a new platform crossover, connecting to the parking garage.

Text from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamford_Station