New London Union Station

New London, CT
Front view of New London Union Station in July 2012
General information
Location	35 Water Street New London, Connecticut United States
Owned by	New London RR Company (station)[1] Amtrak (track and platforms)[2]
Line(s)	Amtrak Northeast Corridor[2] New England Central Railroad
Platforms	1 side platform 1 island platform
Tracks	3
Connections	SEAT: 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 14, 15, 108 9 Town Transit: 643 Greyhound Lines Cross Sound Ferry Block Island Express Ferry Fishers Island Ferry
Construction
Parking	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak: NLC
IATA code	ZGD
History
Opened	1848 (NLW&P) 1852 (NH&NL)
Rebuilt	1861(NLW&P) 1864 (NLN) 1886–1887 (Union Station) Renovations: 1976–77, 2002–03
Passengers
FY 2023	154,876[3] (Amtrak)
2019	66 daily boardings[4] (Shore Line East)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Old Saybrook toward Norfolk, Newport News or Roanoke Northeast Regional Mystic toward Boston South      Acela does not stop here Preceding station CT Rail Following station Old Saybrook toward New Haven Union Station or Stamford Shore Line East Terminus
Former services Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station Waterford toward New Haven Shore Line Groton toward Boston Terminus Norwich Branch Groton toward Worcester Preceding station Central Vermont Railway Following station Terminus Main Line East New London toward St. Johns Preceding station Amtrak Following station New Haven toward Washington, D.C. Acela Providence toward Boston South Montrealer Willimantic toward Montreal
Union Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Coordinates	41°21′15″N 72°05′35″W / 41.35417°N 72.09306°W / 41.35417; -72.09306
Architect	Henry Hobson Richardson[5]
NRHP reference No.	71000913[5]
Added to NRHP	June 1971[5][6]
Location

New London Union Station is a railroad station on the Northeast Corridor located in downtown New London, Connecticut, United States. Union Station is a station stop for most Amtrak Northeast Regional trains and all CT Rail Shore Line East commuter rail trains, making it the primary railroad station in southeastern Connecticut. It serves as the centerpiece of the Regional Intermodal Transit Center, with connections to local and intercity buses as well as ferries to Long Island and Fishers Island, New York, and Block Island, Rhode Island. The station has one side platform and one island platform serving the two-track Northeast Corridor; the latter platform also serves a siding track that connects to the New England Central Railroad mainline.

Rail service to New London began with the New London, Willimantic, and Palmer Railroad in 1848 and the New Haven and New London Railroad in 1852. The original stations were each replaced in the 1860s; after several consolidations, they were served by the Central Vermont Railway (CV) and New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (New Haven) by the 1870s. After one of the stations burned in 1885, a new three-story brick union station was erected in 1887. It was the last and largest railroad station designed by famed architect H. H. Richardson, and his best according to biographer Henry-Russell Hitchcock.^[7][8]

Passenger service declined in the 20th century; all CV passenger service to New London ended in 1949. The New London Redevelopment Agency began planning in 1961 to demolish the station as part of urban renewal. Amtrak took over passenger service in May 1971; Union Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places the next month following a local effort. After several years of controversy over whether to demolish or preserve the structure, it was purchased by architect George M. Notter in 1975. Notter's firm renovated the station for combined use by Amtrak and commercial tenants; it was the first station to be restored for Amtrak's use, and one of the earliest cases of adaptive reuse of an industrial-age building in New England.

Shore Line East commuter service joined Amtrak intercity service at the station in 1996. High-level platforms were added in 2001 to serve the new Acela Express service. A second renovation in 2002–03 restored the exterior and returned the waiting room to its original configuration. The planned National Coast Guard Museum, which will be located across the tracks from the station, will include a long-planned footbridge over the tracks.