Stamford’s development is inextricably linked to the New York MTA’s Metro North Commuter Rail, upon which one can travel from Grand Central Station to Downtown Stamford in about an hour. All the MTA lines serve some economic activity, as shown below in a job density map produced by the New York City Planning Department. Stamford, Bridgeport, and New Haven have the highest job density.

According to Amtrak’s Great American Stations Project, Stamford Station (STM) has revenue of US $51,211,188 and ridership of 412,738 per anum (FY18). While the most recent STM station opened in 1987, the presence of rail in Stamford dates back to 1848, when the New York & New Haven (NY&NH) Railroad established the first wood frame depot east of Atlantic Street near the then-busy canal. In 1868, Linus Yale, Jr. and Henry T. Towne located the factory for their now ubiquitous locks in Stamford’s South End Neighborhood, to be near the railroad and the canal. South End thus became Stamford’s main industrial zone. Between 1905 and 1925, the electrification of the NY&NH line helped Stamford’s population to double.

In 1959, the Yale Lock Factory–spanning over 25 acres of land in the South End and once Stamford’s largest employer–shut its doors. This was a period of de-industrialization throughout the region; factories were shutting down all over New England (like nearby Winchester Arms Factory in New Haven). Many of these former boom towns are still trying to recapture some glory by transitioning to service industries. Today, Stamford’s heavy investment in commercial real estate is part of the city’s story of reinvention.