Opportunity
Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line runs from New Haven, Connecticut along the northern shore of Long Island Sound. Making stops at Bridgeport, Stamford, Greenwich and New Rochelle, it ends at Grand Central Terminal in New York City.
Maintaining and improving service on the New Haven Line is a high priority. According to Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy, speaking in October 2013, “We have been investing, and continue to invest, hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrading the New Haven Line, which, with passenger trips at about 39 million a year, is the busiest in North America.”
The West Haven Railroad Station is the first new station to be built on the New Haven Line since the Fairfield Metro Station in 2011.
Solution
Mott MacDonald was retained by the State of Connecticut Department of Transportation to perform the conceptual, preliminary, and detailed design for the new station, as well as construction documents for all mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems.
These design responsibilities included the following:
- Building HVAC
- Plumbing and drainage
- Lighting for station, platforms, and surface parking in accordance with standards of the IESNA (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America)
- Power distribution
- Fire alarm
- Communications for phones, CCTV, platform information displays, ticket vending machines, and public address system
Mott MacDonald also provided support services during construction, including submittal review, Request for Information responses, and review of contractor-proposed design changes.
Outcome
Service at the new station began on August 18, 2013. According to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, “The station has been built in compliance with federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements and features convenient platform access, restrooms, elevators, energy efficient lighting and building systems, interior and exterior seating and benches, as well as an electronic public information kiosk, closed-circuit security cameras and state-of-the-art public address and train status displays for enhanced customer communications.”
Governor Malloy said, “Adding stations and more parking will help ease the stress of the daily commute while providing comfort and convenience to our millions of customers. In addition, this particular project created or sustained more than one-thousand jobs.”