Merritt 7 station


The Merritt 7 station is a commuter rail station on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line, located in Norwalk, Connecticut. Merritt 7 is named for a nearby business park based at the intersection of the Merritt Parkway and United States Route 7.
Merritt 7 is from Grand Central Terminal and the trip takes around 74 minutes. The station is the only regular stop in the Metro-North system outside of the Waterbury Branch, the Pascack Valley Line, and the Port Jervis Line to have a low-level platform.

History

The Merritt-7 Office Complex built the station while separating the station from building entrances by a fence to make the complex transit adjacent but not transit-oriented. The station opened on July 29, 1985 by Metro-North. At the time of its opening, it was the only privately built rail station in the state of Connecticut. The station cost $750,000 to be built.
The station has 88 parking spaces and is owned and operated by the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Station improvements

The station, as part of "Let's Go CT" initiative, will be rebuilt to contain a long high-level platform built on the west side of the tracks. It will be able to platform six cars, and it will be canopied for its entire length. The parking lot will be expanded to at least 283 parking spaces. The new station would have a pedestrian overpass and it would be ADA-accessible with elevators. Work is scheduled to begin on April 15, 2019, and be completed on October 16, 2020.

Station layout

This station has one four-car-long low-level side platform to the west of the track. The Danbury Branch has one track at this location.