Wakefield station (Metro-North)


The Wakefield station is a commuter rail stop on the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line, serving the Wakefield section of the Bronx, New York City. It is the northernmost station on the line before it crosses the New York City limits into Westchester County, New York. It is from Grand Central Terminal and travel time there is approximately 29 minutes. The station is located on East 241st Street.
This station is the first/last station in the Zone 2 Metro-North fare zone, and is the first/last station of the CityTicket intra-city ticket zone. Though there is no direct connecting bus service at the station, five blocks east from the station is the Wakefield–241st Street station on the IRT White Plains Road Line of the New York City Subway, the northernmost station in the system.

History

The New York and Harlem Railroad laid tracks through Wakefield and Washingtonville during the mid-1840s as part of their effort to expand the line to Tuckahoe. The original name of the station was "Washingtonville," which was a segment of the neighborhood of Wakefield until the early-20th Century. Sometime between 1894 and 1905, the name of the station was changed to Wakefield, despite the fact that Washingtonville still existed as a neighborhood in the Bronx at the time. The station was the northern terminus of electrification for the Harlem Line in 1907 until it was expanded to White Plains in 1909.
The station depot burned in a fire on August 15, 1953. After the fire, the New York Central petitioned the Public Service Commission for permission to discontinue the station, arguing that the station's low ridership did not justify rebuilding the station. In December 1953, the PSC denied the Central's petition to discontinue service, and ordered the railroad to restore service to the station by January 4, 1954, and to rebuild the station. However, the PSC gave the Central permission to discontinue the station's part-time agent. High-level platforms were added to the stations in 1976, replacing lower wooden ones.
On September 29, 2013, 17-year-old Mount Saint Michael Academy student Matthew Wallace was struck and killed by a northbound train as he stood on the platform in an inebriated state. Afterward, Metro North officials announced that security cameras will be installed at all stations on the Harlem and New Haven lines in order to address public safety concerns. A permanent, makeshift memorial constructed by Wallace's family and friends stands at the station's only entrance.

Station layout

This station has two high-level island platforms, each four cars long and accessible by stairway from the north side of East 241st Street. Because of these short platform lengths, only four cars can receive and discharge passengers at the station.