North Scituate | |||||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||||
Location | 777 Country Way Scituate, Massachusetts | ||||||||||||
Coordinates | 42°13′10.92″N70°47′15.72″W / 42.2197000°N 70.7877000°W | ||||||||||||
Line(s) | South Shore Railroad | ||||||||||||
Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||||
Tracks | 1 | ||||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||||
Parking | 281 spaces ($4.00 fee) 12 accessible spaces | ||||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||||
Fare zone | 5 | ||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||
Opened | October 31, 2007 | ||||||||||||
Closed | June 30, 1959 | ||||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||||
2018 | 336 (weekday average boardings) [1] | ||||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||||
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North Scituate station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Scituate, Massachusetts. It serves the Greenbush Line. The station, located at 777 Country Way in North Scituate village, is the primary station for Scituate, while nearby Greenbush station primarily serves as a park-and-ride for adjacent communities. Like the other stations on the Greenbush Line, North Scituate consists of a single full-length high-level platform which provides accessible boarding to the line's single track.
The modern Greenbush Line was originally built as the South Shore Railroad, which opened to Cohasset in 1849. The Old Colony-backed Duxbury and Cohasset Railroad, chartered in 1867, which opened from Cohasset to Duxbury in 1871, including a stop at North Scituate. [2] Three other stations were, at various times, located in Scituate: Egypt station at Captain Pierce Road, Scituate (also called Scituate Harbor) at First Parish Road, and Greenbush at Driftway. [3] [4]
After financial troubles in the 1870s, the Duxbury and Cohasset was joined with the South Shore under the fold of the Old Colony Railroad in 1877. A new freight house was built in 1879, and the existing passenger station was expanded. [5] The Old Colony was leased to the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad in 1893.
Ridership on the Greenbush Line diminished in the 1930s due to increased competition from automobiles. The line enjoyed a brief uptick in traffic in World War II with the construction of the Hingham Naval Ammunition Depot and the Hingham Naval Ammunition Depot Annex. The number of daily trips was increased from 4 to 8 after World War II under Frederick C. Dumaine, Jr., and modern diesel trains including Budd RDCs were introduced in the 1950s. However, the New Haven Railroad continued to lose money on the service, and after Dumaine was ousted the railroad announced all trains would cease running in 1958. Only an emergency subsidy by the state kept trains running until June 30, 1959 when the Southeast Expressway opened and all passenger train service ended. [6] The former Spanish-style station, built in 1908-09, is located on Gannett Road near the modern station. It was converted for commercial use by 1962. [7] [8]
Calls for the former Old Colony lines to be reactivated began in the 1980s; the Plymouth/Kingston Line and Middleborough/Lakeville Line were reopened in 1997. After much controversy surrounding various aspects of the $534 million project, construction of the Greenbush Line was completed in mid-2007. The Greenbush line and North Scituate station were opened for full service on October 31, 2007 after a ceremonial train the previous day. [9]
Scituate is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on the South Shore, midway between Boston and Plymouth. The population was 19,063 at the 2020 census.
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.
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.
Quincy Center station is an intermodal transit station in Quincy, Massachusetts. It is a transfer station between the MBTA Red Line subway, MBTA Commuter Rail's Old Colony Lines and Greenbush Line, and a number of MBTA bus routes. It is located between Hancock Street and Burgin Parkway in the Quincy Center district. Opened in 1971, the station was covered by a large parking garage which was closed in 2012 due to structural problems and removed several years later. The station is accessible on all modes.
Wompatuck State Park is a state-owned, public recreation area of about 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) in size located primarily in the town of Hingham with portions in the neighboring towns of Cohasset, Norwell, and Scituate, Massachusetts, in the United States. In addition to a large campground and an extensive trail system, the park is noted for the free spring water that can be obtained at Mt. Blue Spring, which has been in operation since the mid-19th century. The park is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation which protects forests of the northeastern coastal forests ecoregion.
The Greenbush Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system which serves the South Shore region of Massachusetts. The 27.6-mile (44.4 km) line runs from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through the cities and towns of Quincy, Braintree, Weymouth, Hingham, Cohasset, and Scituate to the Greenbush neighborhood in southern Scituate. There are ten stations along the line. From South Station, to Quincy Center, service operates in conjunction with the Old Colony Lines commuter rail service via the Old Colony Main Line. From Weymouth Landing/East Braintree to Greenbush, trains utilize the Greenbush Branch, the former South Shore Railroad line that was later incorporated into the Old Colony Railroad.
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.
West Concord station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station located in West Concord, Massachusetts. It is served by the Fitchburg Line. The station has two side platforms serving the line's two tracks, with mini-high platforms for accessibility. The adjacent station building, now a restaurant, is not used for railroad purposes.
Weymouth Landing/East Braintree station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station on the border of Braintree and Weymouth, Massachusetts. It serves the Greenbush Line. It is located in Weymouth Landing, and consists of a single side platform serving the line's one track. The station is fully accessible.
East Weymouth station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Weymouth, Massachusetts. It serves the Greenbush Line, and is located in the East Weymouth village. It consists of a single side platform serving the line's one track. The station is fully accessible.
West Hingham station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Hingham, Massachusetts. It serves the Greenbush Line. It consists of a single side platform serving the line's one track. The station is fully accessible.
Nantasket Junction station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Hingham, Massachusetts. It serves the Greenbush Line. It is located off Chief Justice Cushing Highway east of downtown Hingham. It consists of a single side platform serving the line's one track. The station is fully accessible.
Cohasset station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Cohasset, Massachusetts. It serves the Greenbush Line. It is located off Chief Justice Cushing Highway west of downtown Cohasset. The station was opened with the line on October 31, 2007, providing the first rail service to Cohasset since 1959. Cohasset station is fully accessible.
Greenbush station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Scituate, Massachusetts. Located in the Greenbush section of Scituate, it is the terminus of the Greenbush Line.
The Hingham Naval Ammunition Depot Annex, sometimes called the “Cohasset Annex” or "Hingham Annex" by local residents, covered sections of the towns of Hingham, Cohasset, Norwell, and Scituate Massachusetts. It served as an annex to the Hingham Naval Ammunition Depot.
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.
Grafton station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in the North Grafton village of Grafton, Massachusetts, served by the Framingham/Worcester Line. The station is fully accessible, with mini-high platforms serving both of the line's two tracks.
Buzzards Bay station is a train station located on Main Street in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. The site also contains an interlocking tower. The Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge is adjacent.
The South Shore Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. It was incorporated in 1846 to provide rail service between Quincy and Duxbury, Massachusetts through the towns of Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate and Marshfield.
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.
Media related to North Scituate station at Wikimedia Commons