Hartford Line Station Design

New Haven, Connecticut, to Springfield, Massachusetts

The Hartford Line Station Design project includes the design for 11 new or upgraded high-speed passenger rail stations from New Haven, Connecticut, to Springfield, Massachusetts. The first five stations – New Haven, Berlin, Meriden, Wallingford and Hartford – were recently opened to support the startup of Connecticut’s new regional passenger rail service, the Harford Line. The new service will increase the number of connections from Vermont, western Massachusetts and interior Connecticut to the Northeast Corridor, New York City and beyond, while also providing an affordable mass transit commuting option to residents.

The newly upgraded stations include innovative features like high-level platform snow melt systems, platform-wide Wi-Fi service, online parking revenue collection systems, real-time passenger information displays which integrate information for both regional and AMTRAK trains and sustainable design considerations, such as LED lighting, electric vehicle charging stations and rain garden and detention drainage solutions.

Station aesthetics were developed in collaboration with local towns in a manner respectful of the historic New England context while also offering a unique and modern identity consistent across each town.

Michael Baker designed both hydronic and electric snow melt systems for the 500-foot-long commuter rail platforms at each station to improve the passenger experience in the winter months and to mitigate the high costs of snow removal along the railroad right-of-way. These complex systems required careful cross-discipline design coordination of the platform structural assembly, platform-mounted passenger amenities and utilities. After several severe winter weather events, we worked with the client to assess system performance, adjust controls and modify operating procedures, resulting in a successful roll-out of this technology.