Rowayton (Metro-North station)

Infobox Station
name=Rowayton
style=MNRR New Haven
type=


image_size=275
image_caption=
address=299 Rowayton Avenue
at 1 Belmont Place,
Norwalk, CT 06853
coordinates=coord|41.07851|-73.445535
line=
Metro-North Railroad:
other=
structure=
platform=
depth=
levels=
tracks=4
parking=330 spaces
bicycle=
baggage_check=
opened=
closed=
rebuilt=
electrified=
ADA=
code=
owned=
zone=
former=
passengers=146,120 [Using 260 weekdays in a year multiplied by number of weekday passengers (562)]
pass_year=2006
pass_percent=0
pass_system=
mpassengers=
services=
map_locator=

The Rowayton Metro-North Railroad station is one of three New Haven Line stations serving the residents of Norwalk, Connecticut. It is located in the neighborhood of Rowayton, from which it derives its name.

Rowayton is about convert|39|mi|km from Grand Central Terminal and the average travel time from Grand Central is 60 minutes though this varies depending on run and time of day.

Nineteenth century artist and humanitarian Vincent Colyer helped to get the station built. [Klein, Lauren, "Couple transforms old barn into new home", article in "The Advocate" of Stamford, Connecticut, January 16, 2007 ("Colyer, a Darien resident, was a successful artist, a prominent figure in the Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant administrations and instrumental in bringing a railroad station to Rowayton."), accessed via NewsBank Web site, November 16, 2007]

Parking

The station has 330 parking spaces, all owned by the state. [ [http://www.ct.gov/dotinfo/lib/dotinfo/ctgov/FinalParkingReport.pdf] "Task 2: Technical Memorandum parking Inventory and Utilization: Final Report" submitted by Urbitran Associates Inc. to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, "Table 1: New Haven Line Parking Capacity and Utilization", page 6, July 2003]

In April 2007, the Sixth Taxing District commissioners, acting under a demand by the state Department of Transportation to change the system, decided to switch the parking permit-granting procedure so that 375 annual permit holders (expanded in April 2007 to 397) would be given preference for new permits. Under the new system, permit holders go to the Rowayton Community Center on the third Saturday in June and reapply.Chamoff, Lisa, "No more lining up in Rowayton: Officials switch on station parking permit system", news article in The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut, Norwalk Edition, April 12, 2007, pp 1, A4] Under a system in place for the previous 30 years, Rowayton commuters received parking permits on a first-come, first-served basis. Every June, commuters would camp out overnight to guarantee a place in line to get a permit. Those too far back in line would go on a waiting list.Chamoff, Lisa, "Rowayton debates whether to defy DOT on parking", news article in The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut, Norwalk Edition, March 15, 2007, pp A9, A10] As of April 2007, about 50 commuters were on the waiting list. In that month the commission expanded the annual permits from 375 to 397, removing 22 monthly permits the district had been selling on a monthly basis.

On Wednesday March 12, 2008 in a meeting of the Sixth Taxing District an expansion of permit parking by 30 spaces to a total of 428 was approved by the taxing district commissioners.cite news |first=Fay Jr. |last=Francis X. |title=The Hour |work=6th District approves expanded parking at RR station |publisher=The Hour Publishing Company |date=2008-03-13 |accessdate=2008-03-17 ]

ee also

* Connecticut Rail Commuter Council is the official state advocate for commuters and brings station problems to the attention of officials.

Notes

External links

* [http://as0.mta.info/mnr/stations/station_detail.cfm?key=232 Metro-North Railroad - Rowayton]
* [http://www.ct.gov/dotinfo/lib/dotinfo/ctgov/Rowayton.pdf] Bureau of Public Transportation of the Connecticut Department of Transportation, "Rowayton Train Station Visual Inspection Report" dated January 2007