Fitchburg Line

Fitchburg/South Acton Line
Train #465 entering Porter, bound for South Acton.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	MBTA Commuter Rail
Locale	Greater Boston
Termini	Fitchburg North Station
Stations	18
Daily ridership	9,648
Operation
Owner	MBTA
Operator(s)	MBCR
Character	Commuter rail line
Rolling stock	Commuter rail cars
Technical
Line length	49.55 mi (79.44 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Legend Wachusett (under construction) Fitchburg North Leominster Shirley Ayer Littleton/Route 495 South Acton West Concord Concord Lincoln Silver Hill Hastings Kendal Green Brandeis/Roberts Waltham Waverley Belmont Center PorterRed Line connection Boston Engine Terminal(MBTA employees only) North StationAmtrak connection

The Fitchburg Line is an MBTA line that runs from Boston's North Station to Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The line is along the tracks of the former Fitchburg Railroad, which was a railroad line across northern Massachusetts, United States, leading to and through the Hoosac Tunnel. It is one of the more scenic commuter rail lines, passing by Walden Pond between Lincoln and Concord. The Fitchburg Line is the longest line in the system in terms of both length and travel time, and ranks as one of the worst lines in terms of on time performance. The MBTA attributes this to the facts that the line has the oldest and least adequate infrastructure in the system and commuter trains must compete with freight traffic, mainly between South Acton and Ayer. Despite this, the Fitchburg Line still draws about 10,000 daily riders, and the MBTA expects it to draw even more once upgrades to the line are completed.

History

Map of the Fitchburg Railroad

The line passes adjacent to Walden Pond in Concord

The Fitchburg Railroad opened between 1840 and 1845 from Boston to Fitchburg. The Boston and Maine Railroad leased the Fitchburg Railroad in 1900 and bought it finally in 1919. The portion between Fitchburg and Boston was sold to the MBTA on December 27, 1976 as part of Boston & Maine's divestiture of commuter rail operations.

Passenger service ran only to Fitchburg after 1960, after the Boston and Maine eliminated its through service to its western terminal in Troy, NY. In the early 1960s at least part of the right-of-way was to be utilized to connect Route 2 with the proposed Interstate 695 (Inner Belt) in Union Square, Somerville. On January 18, 1965 service was cut back to West Concord, but was restored to Ayer on June 28, 1965. On March 1, 1975 it was cut back to South Acton, but was restored to Fitchburg and beyond to Gardner on January 13, 1980. Gardner service was ended on January 1, 1987 when Amtrak took over the MBTA contract, due to a dispute between Amtrak and Guilford; the MBTA only owned the trackage to Fitchburg. The Fitchburg route was once double tracked from Boston to Troy, NY. Double tracks now extend only to Acton, MA which is why, operationally, South Acton is the only station beyond Cambridge at which every train stops. Since the advent of Commuter Rail Operations by the Commonwealth, several stations along the Fitchburg lines have been closed. These include Clematis Brook and Beaver Brook in Waltham, West Acton in Acton and Harwood Depot on Taylor Street in Littleton, the last of which was immediately replaced by Littleton/495 station a mile away.

The Fitchburg Line west of the old Stony Brook Railroad, which now junctions east of the old Ayer Junction, now serves as part of Guilford's main line between Mattawamkeag, Maine and Mechanicville, New York.

The Walden Street Cattle Pass crosses beneath the Walden Street bridge in Cambridge, adjacent to the tracks; it was last used in the 1920s.

Planned improvements

On February 17, 2009, the US Department of Transportation awarded $55.5 million towards the extension of the line from Fitchburg to a new terminus to be called Wachusett. The station is scheduled to start service in 2012. There is a plan to upgrade the Fitchburg Line to have cab signaling. In conjunction with this $70m upgrade, plans include track rehabilitation to increase speed and the extension of double track from South Acton to Ayer to allow an increase in capacity.

Accessibility

Only six of the stations, including both terminals, are wheelchair accessible. See also MBTA accessibility.

Station and junction listing

Milepost	City	Station / Junction	Opening date	Connections and notes
0.0	Boston	North Station		Orange Line, Green Line and all north side Commuter Rail lines Amtrak Downeaster
		Boston Engine Terminal		A flag stop with a wooden platform for MBTA employees only
				MBTA Commuter Rail Lowell Line, Haverhill/Reading Line and Newburyport/Rockport Line split
	Somerville	Union Square	1835	closed
		Somerville		closed (Park Street)
3.37	Cambridge	Porter Square		Red Line, originally Porter's
4.16		West Cambridge (station)		closed (137 Sherman Street)
4.29		West Cambridge (junction)		split with (abandoned) Watertown Branch Railroad loop (near New Street)
4.53		Brick Yards (Fens)		closed; split with (abandoned) Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad (just east of Alewife Brook Parkway)
5.35				join with (abandoned) Fitchburg Cutoff
5.52	Belmont	Hill Crossing		closed (near Brighton Street, Belmont/Blanchard Road, Cambridge)
6.43		Belmont Center		74/75 bus, temporarily closed 1958, reopened March 4, 1974
7.39		Waverley		73 trackless trolley, temporarily closed 1958, reopened March 4, 1974.
8.31	Waltham	Clematis Brook		closed June 1978. Was located off Clematis Ave. in Waltham. Track connection to the (abandoned) Central Massachusetts Railroad.
9.26		Beaver Brook		closed June 1978. Was located on Rose Hill Way in Waltham.
				join with (abandoned) Watertown Branch Railroad loop
9.86		Waltham		70, 70A, 505, 553, 554, 556, 558 buses
10.55		Riverview		closed January 17, 1965
11.49		Brandeis/Roberts		originally Roberts
12.23	Weston	Stony Brook		closed
13.16		Kendal Green
13.72		Hastings		limited service, five inbound trains and six outbound trains on weekdays.
14.71		Silver Hill		limited service, two inbound trains and three outbound trains on weekdays.
16.66	Lincoln	Lincoln		originally South Lincoln
17.76		Baker Bridge		closed
20.05	Concord	Concord
21.89		West Concord
25.06	Acton	South Acton		Clock Tower Shuttle; terminal station for some trains; temporarily closed January 17, 1965, reopened June 28, 1965. The original South Acton station was located on School Street east of the Main Street bridge. The station building burned in the early 1970s. The station was relocated west of Main Street Bridge with an entrance of off Central Street. South Acton contains the largest number of parking spots on the line.
26.77		West Acton		closed January 17, 1965, reopened June 28, 1965, closed April 30, 1975. The station building has been torn down and currently houses New London Pizza.
28.93	Boxborough	Boxboro		closed. The station stop was located on Depot Road.
30.16	Littleton	Littleton/Route 495	1980	opened January 13, 1980, as a replacement for the former Littleton station. It is located near the intersection of Route 2 and Interstate 495, on Foster St.
31.47		Littleton		Opened 1879, temporarily closed January 17, 1965, reopened June 28, 1965, closed April 30, 1975. Replaced by Littleton/Route 495. The former station building, Harwood depot, still stands at the intersection of Taylor Road and King Street.
33.72	Ayer	Willows		Closed; it was located between Littleton and Ayer and served both communities.
36.07 316.07		Ayer		temporarily closed January 17, 1965, reopened June 28, 1965, temporarily closed April 30, 1975, reopened January 13, 1980
39.43 319.43	Shirley	Shirley		temporarily closed January 17, 1965, reopened May 1981
42.14 322.14	Lunenburg	Lunenburg		closed
45.34 325.34	Leominster	North Leominster		temporarily closed January 17, 1965, reopened January 13, 1980
49.55 329.55	Fitchburg	Fitchburg		MRTA Buses to Gardner, temporarily closed January 17, 1965, reopened January 13, 1980
		Wachusett		Planned for opening in 2012 based on construction begun in 2010
	South Ashburnham	South Ashburnham		closed
	Gardner	Gardner		opened January 13, 1980, closed January 1, 1987

External links

• MBTA - The Fitchburg Line

References

• Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district (PDF)
• Mileposts from FRA Highway-Rail Crossing Inventory Files and Guilford District 3
• Unofficial map of line on Google Maps template