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The South Norwalk Metro-North Railroad station is owned and managed by the Norwalk Parking Authority, and is the most significant of three stations serving the residents of Norwalk, Connecticut via the New Haven Line. Nicknamed "SoNo" by riders and staff, the station is the point where the Danbury Branch connects to the Northeast Corridor, as well as a peak-hour terminal for some express trains. It is the last stop for New Haven super-express trains before they run non-stop to Grand Central Terminal in New York. Just east of the station is the South Norwalk Railroad Bridge, and next to that is the (SONO Switch Tower Museum ), a preserved switch tower which is open on summer weekend afternoons. The predecessor station in the same location was named Norwalk & South Norwalk in timetables of the New York, New Haven and Hartford and successor Penn Central. South Norwalk is from Grand Central Terminal, and the average travel time from Grand Central is 64 minutes, though this varies depending on run and time of day. The station has approximately 800 parking spaces, none owned by the state.〔()"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〕 The older station building at the eastbound side of the tracks contains a small restaurant, serving pizza, wine and beer. The space is subleased from the New England Fashion Design Association. ==History== The newer, main station house, on the westbound (New York City-bound) side of the tracks, was built in 1994. It has an eclectic cafe serving urban style breakfast and eateris during the day. The station was the first to receive Wi-Fi service on the New Haven Line in March 2006. The service was provided for one year from a federal grant received from the "One Coast, One Future" initiative designed to help economic development in Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport. The grant provides for Wi-Fi service for one year with the expectation that local governments will provide it in the future if they find it valuable enough to do so. Similar service was planned for Stamford and Bridgeport stations in the spring of 2006 but no others. Westport also started providing the service in the spring of 2006. The City of Norwalk and the Norwalk Transit District let a contract for $238,000.00 to study possible improvements to the South Norwalk Station with a goal to make it a better "intermodal" facility with improved access for cars, buses, shuttles, pedestrians, and taxis in February 2008. An updated Transit Oriented Development Study commissioned by the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency is available at http://www.norwalkredevelopmentagency.com/?q=home. In late 2008, a renovation project began at the station, involving the installation of power-assist doors, better smoke detectors, emergency lights and energy-efficient lights. Other work included cleaning brickwork, painting, improving signs and moving the automated pay station. improved landscaping and traffic flow. A Norwalk city government official said the changes were meant to make the station more inviting and give visitors a better impression of Norwalk.〔 In 2012 permanent art was installed in the New Haven lobby and through the connecting tunnel as part of the Norwalk Parking Authority's 'Art in Parking Places' program through a collaboration with the Norwalk Arts Commission and the Norwalk Transit (www.norwalktransit.org) funded by the Federal Transit Administration Public Art Grant. In 2010, the rail bridges over Monroe Street adjacent to the station were replaced. As part of the replacement the stairways that used to provide pedestrian access to either platform from Monroe Street were removed along with concealment of the original red sandstone abutments behind steel reinforced concrete facings. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「South Norwalk (Metro-North station)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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