UNION STATION, on the outskirts of Downtown New Haven, Connecticut, is the main railroad station for the city and serves commuter rail, Amtrak and local bus services.
We visited twice (Wed July 31 & Thurs Aug 1 2024) and had no real reason to
go inside, for we were travelling by bus with Peter Pan Bus Lines, with the arrival and departure points
being outside. However, the weather was
hot and humid, so we called inside to take advantage of the AC and have a look
at the main concourse.
On our first visit we spotted a news stand, so made a mental note to call in to see if they sold ‘New Haven’ souvenir magnets when we passed through the next day. However, we were so distracted by the little Dunkin’ Donuts there and the prospect of tasty hash browns that we completely forgot to check at the news stand. No magnet for us! This was becoming a bit of a theme, as Connecticut became our second New England state after Vermont where we didn’t manage to get a tacky souvenir for the refrigerator back home!
The Dunkin’ was tiny, with only room for a handful of customers at the counter. We lined up outside and when the previous customer, a man blocking the doorway, for some weird reason, refused to move in to place his own order.
“Are you in line, sir?” we asked.
“YES!” he snapped, as he finally stepped
forward.
Needless to say, when he came back out we did not move aside to give him more room. What a grump! Hopefully his coffee sorted him out.
The New Haven Union Station is the second-busiest Amtrak station in the U.S., and dates from 1920; the interior still felt like that, but not in a bad way. We spent a few moments wandering around, looking at railroad models on display in cabinets between the rows of wooden seats.
There was some fascinating hand-drawn artwork on the walls, depicting aerial views of New Haven and New York, and we can’t imagine how long they took to create, but they were incredibly detailed.
If you’re ever passing through New Haven Union Station, make sure you take advantage of the free Downtown Union Station Shuttle – green buses – that loop from the station into the city center. It saved us a 20 minute walk or the $10 Uber fair twice – which meant more money for hash browns and none-existent souvenir magnets!
📌 NEW HAVEN UNION STATION, 50 Union Ave., New Haven, CT 06519
See all our Connecticut photographs in a special album on our Facebook page >>> P&K USA
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