Westborough (MBTA station)

WESTBOROUGH
File:MBTA Westborough.jpg Westborough station in April 2009
Location	Smith Parkway & Fisher Street Westborough, Massachusetts
Coordinates
Line(s)
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	WRTA Westborough Commuter Shuttle
Construction
Parking	443 spaces ($4.00 fee) 8 accessible spaces
Bicycle facilities	4 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	7
History
Opened	June 22, 2002
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	759 (weekday inbound average)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Grafton toward Worcester Framingham/Worcester Line Southborough toward South Station   Former services   New York Central Railroad North Grafton toward Albany Boston and Albany Railroad Main Line Southville toward Boston North Grafton toward Worcester Worcester Line

Westborough is a regional rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Framingham/Worcester Line, located off Smith Parkway in Westborough, Massachusetts, west of the town center. The station consists of two side platforms serving the line's two tracks. Each side has a small mini-high platform for handicapped access; an overhead ramp structure connects the two platforms.

History

B&A station

File:Westboro station postcard.jpg

The 1899-built Westborough station on an early postcard

The Boston and Worcester Railroad (B&W) opened from Boston to Westborough on November 17, 1834, and on to Worcester the next July. The line ran through the town center, with a station east of Main Street.

In 1898, the Boston and Albany Railroad, successor to the B&W, began a project to eliminate dangerous grade crossings in downtown Westborough. 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of new tracks were built north of the downtown area along with a new station. The station was built in a Richardsonian Romanesque style, but designed by a B&A architect rather than the firm of Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge which had designed stations for the B&A until 1894.

On April 24, 1960, the New York Central sharply cut services on the former B&A line. All local stops west of Framingham, including Westborough, were eliminated. Commuter service to Worcester ended in 1975, replaced by a single daily Amtrak train. The station building was purchased by an abrasives company but largely unused, and fell into disrepair. A local civil engineering firm purchased the station in January 2000 and restored it for use as their offices, which opened in February 2001.

MBTA station

In 1994, service to Worcester was restored as mitigation for delays with reopening the Old Colony Lines. Service initially ran nonstop from Framingham to Worcester, but intermediate park and ride stops were added later as mitigation for delays in reopening the Greenbush Line. Westborough station was opened on June 22, 2002, along with Southborough. It is not located as the former station site, but instead to the west of downtown Westborough, closer to busy Route 9. The $4.9 million station originally included 311 parking spaces. Due to high demand, an additional 142-space lot costing $500,000 was opened in January 2006.

External links

• MBTA - Westborough
• Station from Google Maps Street View