Downtown New Britain

Downtown New Britain is a bus rapid transit station and the terminus of the CTfastrak line, located just south of Route 72 off Columbus Boulevard and Main Street in New Britain, Connecticut. It opened with the line on March 28, 2015. The station consists of one side platform and one island platform, each of which has a number of bus bays for CTfastrak local and express services plus local CT Transit buses which do not use the busway. The station is located at the site of New Britain's former railroad station, which saw service from 1850 to 1960.Railroad historyThe Hartford and New Haven Railroad (H&NH) opened through the far east part of New Britain in 1839. The railroad quickly established a New Britain station on what is now New Britain Avenue (CT-174) just over the Wethersfield border, possibly in a privately owned building or house. It was replaced with a dedicated station at the same location in 1848.The Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad (HP&F) opened in 1850; it shared the H&NH right of way north of Newington Junction, but diverged to the south and ran to downtown New Britain and beyond. The HP&F established their own station just east of Main Street; the H&NH then moved their New Britain station north to Newington and finally Newington Junction. The H&NH established their own branch from Middletown to New Britain via Berlin in 1865, sharing the HP&F station.