Attleboro | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
General information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | 75 South Main Street Attleboro, Massachusetts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 41°56′29″N71°17′06″W / 41.9413°N 71.2849°W | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line(s) | Attleboro Line (Northeast Corridor) Attleboro Branch Attleboro Branch (former) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Platforms | 2 side platforms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tracks | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Connections | GATRA: 10, 12, 15, 16, 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Construction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parking | 796 spaces | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bicycle facilities | 28 spaces | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fare zone | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | 1835 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rebuilt | 1906–1908 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Passengers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2018 | 1,547 (weekday average boardings) [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northbound and Southbound Stations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | 1 and 3 Mill Street Attleboro, Massachusetts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Built | 1906 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architect | Edward Hagel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architectural style | Richardsonian Romanesque | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NRHP reference No. | 88003128 [2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Added to NRHP | January 5, 1989 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Attleboro station is a commuter rail station on the MBTA's Providence/Stoughton Line located in Attleboro, Massachusetts. By a 2018 count, Attleboro had 1,547 daily riders, making it the fourth busiest station on the system outside Boston. [1]
Attleboro has had railroad service to its downtown area continuously since 1835. The two-story northbound and southbound station buildings, now private businesses, were built during a grade crossing elimination project in 1906-1908 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. MBTA trains stop at platforms located slightly south of the historic buildings.
Attleboro is an important transfer station for the Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority, with bus platforms at the adjacent Attleboro Intermodal Transportation Center.
The Boston and Providence Railroad (B&P) opened between its namesake cities in June 1835. Two branches opened from Attleboro: The Attleboro Branch Railroad (run by the B&P) opened in January 1870, followed by the Taunton Branch Railroad's Attleboro Branch (to Taunton) on August 1, 1871. [3] [4] The B&P built a new station in 1873. Originally intended to be a joint project with the Taunton Branch Railroad, it was completed solely by the B&P. [5] It was a complex Victorian Gothic building – north of Mill Street at a grade crossing. [6] Service began in June 1835 from Boston to Providence.
The B&P was taken over by the Old Colony Railroad in 1888, which itself was absorbed by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1893. The Old Colony Railroad constructed a new freight house at Attleboro in 1891. [7] The lease of the Attleboro Branch Railroad expired in 1901; the New Haven built a different connector to the Walpole and Wrentham Railroad and the branch was returned to its owners. It was converted to an interurban trolley line locally known as the "Gee Whiz Line" in June 1903. Taken over by the Rhode Island Company in 1907, service lasted as long as 1932. [8] The town plans to convert part of the right of way into a recreational trail. [9]
In 1891, the town petitioned the New Haven Railroad to eliminate dangerous grade crossings in the town. In 1905, the railroad set out to construct a lengthy viaduct for the mainline and the branch to Taunton. The project removed 13 grade crossings and made the line four tracks through Attleboro - one of the few locations east of New Haven where the railroad completed quadruple-tracking plans. Two-story Romanesque station buildings were built on both sides; the northbound building opened in 1906 and the larger southbound building two years later. [6]
Service on the branch to Taunton lasted until 1958, with summer-only long-distance service to Cape Cod lasting until 1964. In April 1979, off-peak MBTA service to Providence was cut back to Attleboro due to a reduction in subsidy from the state of Rhode Island. All service was cut to Attleboro on February 20, 1981. [10]
The station served Amtrak's Cape Codder during the summers of 1986 to 1988, with the Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad operating additional state-funded service from Attleboro to Hyannis in 1988. The CC&HR stopped operation after the 1988 season due to elimination of state subsidies. [11] The Cape Codder discontinued its Attleboro stop in 1989 as it served just 3 riders per train, though the service ran until 1996. [12]
Rush hour MBTA service was restored to Providence on February 1, 1988. Off-peak and weekend service was extended to South Attleboro upon its opening on June 20, 1990; those trains were later extended to Providence under expanded funding agreements. [10] On January 5, 1989, the station buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places. [13] Both buildings are owned by private businesses. On January 16, 1989, the MBTA began a $990k renovation project, which included the installation of mini-high platforms to make the station accessible. [14] The station was accessible by late 1990. [15] The MBTA began operating Providence–Foxboro service for events at Gillette Stadium in 1997, with Attleboro as one of the intermediate stops. [16] [17]
A 782-space garage was planned around 1999 to deal with overcrowding in the surface parking lots, but was never built. [18] The Attleboro Intermodal Transportation Center was opened on November 7, 2013 to provide better connections between local bus and commuter rail services. The facility includes dedicated busways and a waiting room located on the west side of the railroad viaduct. [19]
A 1.7 miles (2.7 km) section of non-electrified platform sidings at Attleboro, not included in the initial Amtrak electrification, was scheduled to be electrified in mid-2022 to support future electric MBTA operations. [20] [21] As of 2024 [update] , transit oriented development with up to 600 housing units is planned to replace the surface parking lots west of the station. [22] The city and the MBTA issued a request for qualifications in June 2024. [23]
The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA's) transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over 394 mi (634 km) of track to 135 stations. It is operated under contract by Keolis, which took over operations on July 1, 2014, from the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR).
The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, New Bedford, Newport, Providence, Fitchburg, Lowell and Cape Cod. For many years the Old Colony Railroad Company also operated steamboat and ferry lines, including those of the Fall River Line with express train service from Boston to its wharf in Fall River where passengers boarded luxury liners to New York City. The company also briefly operated a railroad line on Martha's Vineyard, as well as the freight-only Union Freight Railroad in Boston. The OC was named after the "Old Colony", the nickname for the Plymouth Colony.
South Attleboro station is an MBTA Commuter Rail Providence/Stoughton Line station in Attleboro, Massachusetts. It is located under Newport Avenue in the South Attleboro neighborhood, just north of the Rhode Island border. The station has two side platforms serving the two tracks of the Northeast Corridor, formerly connected by a footbridge to a park-and-ride lot; only the north platform is in use.
Braintree station is an intermodal transit station in Braintree, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA's Red Line and the MBTA Commuter Rail Old Colony Lines as well as MBTA buses.
The Cape Codder was a seasonal passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Hyannis, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. It operated during the summer between 1986 and 1996. It was the first regular service from New York to the Cape since 1964. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad previously had operated a train under this name until 1958.
The Old Colony Lines are a pair of branches of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, connecting downtown Boston, Massachusetts with the South Shore and cranberry-farming country to the south and southeast. The two branches operate concurrently for 10 miles (16 km) via the Old Colony Mainline from South Station to Braintree station. The Middleborough/Lakeville Line then winds south through Holbrook, Brockton, Bridgewater, Middleborough, and Lakeville via the Middleborough Main Line and Cape Main Line. The Kingston Line heads southeast to serve Weymouth, Abington, Whitman, Hanson, Halifax, and Kingston by way of the Plymouth branch. Limited service to Plymouth was provided prior to April 2021 but was cut due to low ridership and budget constraints. The Greenbush Line, which was also part of the Old Colony Division, was reactivated in 2007 as a separate project.
The Providence/Stoughton Line is an MBTA Commuter Rail service in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, primarily serving the southwestern suburbs of Boston. Most service runs entirely on the Northeast Corridor between South Station in Boston and Providence station or Wickford Junction station in Rhode Island, while the Stoughton Branch splits at Canton Junction and terminates at Stoughton. It is the longest MBTA Commuter Rail line, and the only one that operates outside Massachusetts. The line is the busiest on the MBTA Commuter Rail system, with 17,648 daily boardings in an October 2022 count.
The Middleboro Secondary is a railroad line owned by MassDOT in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The line runs from Attleboro to Middleborough via Taunton.
Holbrook/Randolph station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station on the border of Holbrook and Randolph, Massachusetts. It is served by the Middleborough/Lakeville Line.
Norfolk station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Norfolk, Massachusetts, served by the Franklin/Foxboro Line. The station has one platform which serves a single track, with a mini-high section for accessibility. The Norfolk County Railroad opened through the North Wrentham village of Wrentham in 1849. A branch line to Medway was open from 1852 to 1864. The station was renamed Norfolk along with the town in 1870. Several different railroads operated the line, with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad running it for much of the 20th century. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) subsidies began in 1966, and the agency bought the line in 1973. The mini-high platform was added in 1990.
Brockton station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Brockton, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA Middleborough/Lakeville Line and is a stop on the seasonal CapeFLYER service. The station has a single accessible full-length high-level platform that serves the line's two tracks. It is located adjacent to the BAT Centre, the primary hub for Brockton Area Transit Authority local bus service.
Bridgewater station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, served by the Middleborough/Lakeville Line. It is located on the east end of the Bridgewater State University campus along the Middleborough Main Line.
Middleborough/Lakeville station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Lakeville, Massachusetts, just south of the Middleborough border. It is the southern terminus of the Middleborough/Lakeville Line; it is also an intermediate stop for seasonal CapeFlyer service to Cape Cod. Middleborough/Lakeville has a single full-length high-level side platform serving the line's single track.
The Hyannis Transportation Center (HTC) is an intermodal transportation center in Hyannis, Massachusetts, operated by the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA). It is the terminus for several CCRTA bus lines and its CapeFLYER passenger train that operates on summer weekends between Boston South Station and Hyannis. It is also used by the Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway, Peter Pan Bus Lines, and Greyhound via CapeBus intercity bus services. The Cape Cod Central Railroad uses a separate station building across the tracks for its excursion services. A rail yard used by the Cape Cod Central is located north of the station, along with a former roundhouse.
East Taunton station is an under-construction MBTA Commuter Rail station in East Taunton, Massachusetts adjacent to the interchange between the Route 24 expressway and County Street. It is planned to open in 2025 as part of the first phase of the South Coast Rail project.
The Dighton and Somerset Railroad, currently referred to as the Dean Street Industrial Track, is a railroad that ran between Fall River and Braintree, Massachusetts. It opened in 1866; from the 1890s to the 1930s and again in the late 1950s, it was the primary rail route from Boston to the South Coast. Passenger service ended in stages with the final regular service in 1958, though freight service on two short segments continues into the 21st century. MBTA Commuter Rail service is proposed to be extended onto the northern part of the line around 2030 as part of the South Coast Rail project.
The CapeFlyer is a passenger rail service in Massachusetts between Boston and Cape Cod that began in 2013. It is operated by the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA) in collaboration with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). The service runs on the weekends, beginning Friday evenings and including holidays, between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend.
The Cape Cod & Hyannis Railroad was a railroad that provided tourist and seasonal passenger services in Southeastern Massachusetts in the 1980s. Its primary service operated from the Braintree MBTA station to Hyannis on Cape Cod; branches to Attleboro and Falmouth also operated in some years. The service ended after the 1988 summer season amid early-1989 state budget cuts in Massachusetts; much of the same trackage is being used for the seasonal CapeFLYER service.
Taunton station was a passenger rail station located south of Oak Street in downtown Taunton, Massachusetts. As Taunton Central station, it served local and Boston-focused routes from 1836 to 1964. A later station at the same site served Amtrak's Cape Codder from 1986 to 1996, and Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad commuter trains in 1988.
Middleborough station is an under-construction MBTA Commuter Rail station in Middleborough, Massachusetts. It is expected to open in May 2025 as part of the South Coast Rail project, replacing Middleborough/Lakeville station for regular service. The station will have a single side platform located inside the wye between the Middleborough Main Line and the Middleboro Secondary.