Lowell Line

Lowell Line
Overview
Owner	MBTA
Locale	Northeastern Massachusetts
Termini	Lowell North Station
Stations	9
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	MBTA Commuter Rail
Operator(s)	MBCR
Technical
Character	Elevated and surface-level
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Route map 73.3 mi 118 km to Concord, NH 73.3 mi 118 km Concord  55.5 mi 89.3 km Manchester 46.1 mi 74.2 km Merrimack 39.0 mi 62.8 km Nashua NH MA Stony Brook Branch 25.5 mi 41 km Lowell │Lowell Yard 21.8 mi 35.1 km North Billerica 19.2 mi 30.9 km East Billerica 17.0 mi 27.4 km Silver Lake Wildcat Branch to Haverhill Line 15.2 mi 24.5 km Wilmington 12.7 mi 20.4 km Anderson/Woburn 11.6 mi 18.7 km Mishawum 10.9 mi 17.5 km Lechmere Warehouse 10.5 mi 16.9 km Walnut Hill 9.0 mi 14.5 km Winchester Highlands Woburn Cross Street Woburn Branch 7.8 mi 12.6 km Winchester Center 7.3 mi 11.7 km Wedgemere 5.5 mi 8.9 km West Medford  E  Medford/​Tufts 4.0 mi 6.4 km Tufts University 4.0 mi 6.4 km Tufts University Ball Square Magoun Square Gilman Square East Somerville  Haverhill   Newburyport/Rockport   Orange   to Oak Grove 0.8 mi 1.3 km Maintenance facility  D  to Union Square  Fitchburg  Community College Lechmere Charles River Science Park 0 mi 0 km North Station  Orange  to Forest Hills  D  to Riverside  E  to Heath Street

The Lowell Line is a railroad line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running north from Boston to Lowell, Massachusetts. Originally built as the Boston and Lowell Railroad, and later operated as part of the Boston and Maine Railroad's Southern Division, the line was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in Massachusetts.

History

Boston and Maine passenger service to Boston on the line was shortened from Nashua, New Hampshire to Lowell in 1967.

In 1973 the MBTA bought the Lowell line, along with the Haverhill and all other local Greater Boston passenger lines. Along with the sale, the B&M contracted to run the passenger service on the Lowell line for the MBTA. After bankruptcy, The B&M continued to run and fulfill its Commuter Rail contract under the protection of the United States Bankruptcy Court, in the hopes that a reorganization could make it profitable again. It emerged from the court's protection when newly-formed Guilford Transportation Industries (GTI) bought it in 1983.

When GTI bought the B&M, commuter rail service was in jeopardy. The MBTA had owned the trains and the tracks since 1973, but it had outsourced the operation to the B&M. When GTI bought the B&M in 1983, it had to honor the B&M contract, but GTI management was very much against passenger rail, and, in 1986, as soon as the contract expired, they let the job go to Amtrak, which operated the entire commuter rail system. (See MBTA Commuter Rail for later systemwide operational history.)

As of 2007, there is a current debate over whether or not to expand the Lowell line to Nashua, New Hampshire and include stations in North Chelmsford and Tyngsborough en route, for the sake of commuters in those towns.

Station listing

Operating stations are shaded in purple.

Milepost	City	Station	Opening date	Connections and notes
0.0	Boston	North Station		Orange Line and Green Line MBTA Commuter Rail north-side lines Amtrak Downeaster service to Maine
		Boston Engine Terminal		A flag stop with a wooden platform for MBTA employees
				MBTA Fitchburg Line, Haverhill/Reading Line and Newburyport/Rockport Line split
	Cambridge	East Cambridge		closed on the old alignment, west of the current route
1.9	Somerville	Prospect Hill		closed originally Milk Row
2.4		Winter Hill		closed
2.8		Somerville Junction		closed originally Somerville split with Lexington and Arlington Branch
3.6		North Somerville		closed
4.0	Medford	Tufts University	November 1976 (had been open previously)	closed October 1979 originally College Hill
4.6		Medford Hillside		closed
5.5		West Medford		originally Medford Gates (in 1835)
7.3	Winchester	Wedgemere		originally Mystic
7.8		Winchester Center		split with Woburn Branch
9.0		Winchester Highlands		closed June 1978
9.8	Woburn	Montvale		closed split with Stoneham Branch
		Lechmere Warehouse	1979	closed 1996 [1]
10.5		Walnut Hill		closed January 17, 1965
11.6		Mishawum	September 24, 1984 (had been open previously)	originally East Woburn, only limited service
12.7		Anderson Regional Transportation Center	April 28, 2001	Amtrak Downeaster service to Maine originally South Wilmington (had been open previously)
15.2	Wilmington	Wilmington		split with Wildcat Branch, carrying the Amtrak Downeaster service (without stopping here)
17.0		Silver Lake		closed June 27, 1965?
	Billerica	East Billerica		closed June 27, 1965
21.8		North Billerica		junction with Billerica and Bedford Branch
24.6	Lowell	Bleachery		closed junction with Lowell and Lawrence Railroad, Lowell Branch (B&M) and Framingham and Lowell Railroad (NYNH&H)
25.5		Lowell		LRTA buses to Lowell and beyond originally Middlesex Street junction with Lowell and Nashua Railroad (B&L)
		Merrimack Street		closed

Accessibility

North Station is wheelchair accessible, as are Anderson RTC and stations north of there. See also MBTA accessibility.

External links

• MBTA - The Lowell Line

References

• Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district (PDF)
• Railroad History Database
• Mileposts from Boston to Montreal High-Speed Rail Planning and Feasibility Study Phase I Final Report and FRA Highway-Rail Crossing Inventory Files