Norwood Depot | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
General information | |||||||||||||||||
Location | 4 Hill Street, Norwood, Massachusetts | ||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 42°11′47″N71°11′48″W / 42.1963°N 71.1968°W Coordinates: 42°11′47″N71°11′48″W / 42.1963°N 71.1968°W | ||||||||||||||||
Line(s) | Franklin Branch | ||||||||||||||||
Platforms | 2 side platforms | ||||||||||||||||
Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||||||||
Parking | 219 spaces ($2.00 fee) | ||||||||||||||||
Disabled access | Yes | ||||||||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||||||||
Fare zone | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||
Opened | April 23, 1849 | ||||||||||||||||
Rebuilt | 1977, 1992 | ||||||||||||||||
Previous names | South Dedham, Nahatan, Norwood [1] | ||||||||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||||||||
2018 | 285 (weekday average boardings) [2] | ||||||||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Location | |||||||||||||||||
Norwood Depot is an MBTA Commuter Rail Franklin Line station located in downtown Norwood, Massachusetts. The station has two side platforms serving the two tracks of the Franklin Branch, each with a mini-high section for accessibility. The Norfolk County Railroad opened through South Dedham (now Norwood) in 1849, with a station at the modern location. It was renamed Norwood in 1872. The line came under control of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1895. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) began subsidizing service in 1966 and purchased the line in 1973. Under the MBTA, renovations to the station were made around 1977 and 1992.
Norwood Depot is located in downtown Norwood, about 0.2 miles (0.3 km) northeast of Norwood Common. The two-track Franklin Branch, used by the Franklin Line service, runs approximately north–south through Norwood. The station has two low-level side platforms, with accessible mini-high platforms at their southern ends near the Railroad Avenue grade crossing. [3] Two parking lots are located on the west side of the tracks, with 219 spaces combined. [4] [5] With 285 daily riders in 2018, the station is substantially less used than Norwood Central station. [2]
The Norfolk County Railroad opened from Dedham to Walpole on April 23, 1849. South Dedham station (also called Nahatan), located at Railroad Avenue, was originally the only station in what is now Norwood (then part of Dedham). [1] [6] Dedham Middle station (now Norwood Central) was added around 1852. [6] The station was renamed Norwood in 1872 when Norwood separated from Dedham. [7] The railroad went through several mergers, eventually becoming part of the New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE) in 1875. [6] Double track was extended from Islington through Norwood to Walpole in 1873–1881. [6] The station building was a one-story wooden structure on the east side of the tracks. [8] [9]
Norwood Central station and Norwood Depot are located just 0.5 miles (0.8 km) apart. [1] In March 1891, the NY&NE petitioned the Massachusetts Board of Railroad Commissioners for permission to consolidate the two stations and to eliminate grade crossings nearby. The station consolidation had been opposed in a town vote two months earlier. [10] [11] The board approved the railroad's petition on June 25, 1891. [12] By November 1892, the Railroad Avenue grade crossing was planned for elimination, along with three others in Norwood. However, the railroad objected to bearing 65% of the costs as laid out in an 1890 state law, and challenged the law in court. [13]
On February 15, 1892, the Old Colony Railroad opened an extension of its Wrentham Branch to Norwood. The Wrentham Branch joined the NYN&NE mainline at Norwood Junction, slightly south of Norwood Central station, and used trackage rights on the line through Norwood. (Wrentham Branch trains left the mainline near Islington, ran on little-used trackage to Dedham, then used lines of the Old Colony-controlled Boston and Providence Railroad to reach Boston.) [1] [14] [15] The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad leased the Old Colony and its subsidiaries on March 1, 1893. [6]
In June 1894, the issue of station consolidation again went before the state board. [16] The commissioners approved the replacement of the two stations with a single station between Day and Vernon Streets. [17] The New Haven acquired control of the NY&NE through its subsidiary New England Railroad on September 1, 1895, and leased the line as its Midland Division effective July 1, 1898. [6] With both lines through Norwood under its control, the New Haven moved forward with some of the grade crossing eliminations. The crossings at Guild Street and Washington Street were eliminated in 1896–97. [18] By 1898, the New Haven planned to quadruple-track and grade-separate the line between Norwood Central and Boston, but this was never completed. [3] [19]
In December 1897, a local business association appeared before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court seeking the railroad to comply with the 1891 order and build a combined station. [20] A bill was put forward in the state legislature for the same purpose in March 1898. [21] The stations were never consolidated, though a new station building was constructed by the railroad at Norwood Central in 1899. [18]
By 1930, the Railroad Avenue grade crossing was controversially expected to be replaced by a new underpass at Nahatan Street, about 900 feet (270 m) to the south. [22] The underpass was opened in 1935, but the grade crossing remained open. [3] [23] Service on the line was gradually reduced during the 20th century. The single daily round trip on the Wrentham Branch was discontinued on July 17, 1938, as part of a massive station closure. [24] The station building was demolished in the 20th century. [25] Norwood station was served only by local trains; intercity service stopped at Norwood Central station instead. [26]
The newly formed Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) began subsidizing suburban commuter rail service on the Franklin Branch on April 24, 1966. [6] The New Haven merged into Penn Central in 1969. [27] On January 27, 1973, the MBTA purchased most of the Penn Central commuter lines, including the Franklin Branch and Norwood Central station. [27] The MBTA gradually increased service on the Franklin Line. In 1977, the agency began an $11 million (equivalent to $39 million in 2021) track and station reconstruction project on the line, partially funded by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, which included improvements to the platforms at Norwood Central. [6] [28] The MBTA modified a number of station names for clarity around that time. Norwood station was renamed Norwood Depot to differentiate it from Norwood Central. [29] [30] Mini-high platforms for accessibility were added around 1992. [31]
Route 128 station is a passenger rail station located at the crossing of the Northeast Corridor and Interstate 95/US Route 1/Route 128 at the eastern tip of Dedham and Westwood, Massachusetts, United States. The station is shared by Amtrak and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). It is served by most MBTA Commuter Rail Providence/Stoughton Line trains, as well as by all Amtrak Northeast Regional and Acela intercity trains. The station building, platforms, and parking garage are all fully accessible. It is the 23rd busiest Amtrak station in the country and the fifth busiest in New England.
Forest Hills station is an intermodal transfer station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA rapid transit Orange Line and three MBTA Commuter Rail lines and is a major terminus for MBTA bus routes. It is located in Forest Hills, in the southern part of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Most Providence/Stoughton Line trains, and all Franklin Line and Amtrak Northeast Corridor trains, pass through the station without stopping.
The Fairmount Line or Dorchester Branch is a line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Except for a short portion in Milton, it lies entirely within Boston, running southwest from South Station through the neighborhoods of Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park. Weekend service began on November 29, 2014. Most trains reverse direction at the south end at Readville, but some Franklin Line trains use the Fairmount Line rather than the Northeast Corridor. On October 21, 2019, some Fairmount Line trains were extended over the Franklin Line to Foxboro as part of the Foxboro Line.
Foxboro station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Foxborough, Massachusetts, located adjacent to Gillette Stadium and the Patriot Place shopping center. The station has a single side platform serving the main track of the Framingham Secondary. Previous passenger service on the line ran from 1870 to 1933, with several three stations in Foxborough. Special service for New England Patriots games and other stadium events ran from 1971 to 1973, then resumed in 1986. Event trains run from Boston via the Franklin Line and from Providence via the Providence/Stoughton Line.
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 Franklin Line, also called the Franklin/Foxboro Line, is part of the MBTA Commuter Rail system. It runs from Boston's South Station in a southwesterly direction toward Franklin, Massachusetts, utilizing the Northeast Corridor before splitting off onto the namesake Franklin Branch. Most Franklin Line trains connect to the Providence/Stoughton Line at Readville, though some weekday trains use the Dorchester Branch to access South Station. Most weekday trains, and all weekend trains, bypass Hyde Park.
The Needham Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running west from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, and the town of Needham. The second-shortest line of the system at just 13.7 miles (22.0 km) long, it carried 4,881 daily riders in October 2022. Unlike the MBTA's eleven other commuter rail lines, the Needham Line is not a former intercity mainline; instead, it is composed of a former branch line, a short segment of one intercity line, and a 1906-built connector.
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.
Union Station, also known as Walpole station, is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Walpole, Massachusetts. It is located at the crossing of Franklin Branch and Framingham Secondary just west of downtown Walpole. The station has one side platform on the Franklin Branch serving the Franklin Line service. Unlike most MBTA stations, Walpole station is not accessible.
Hyde Park station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Boston, Massachusetts. It primarily serves the Providence/Stoughton Line, and also serves rush-hour Franklin Line trains. It is located on the Northeast Corridor in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
Readville station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail station located in the Readville section of the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is served by MBTA Commuter Rail Fairmount Line and Franklin Line. Readville is the outer terminus for most Fairmount service, though some trips continue as Franklin Line trains. The station is located at a multi-level junction, with the Northeast Corridor tracks at ground level and the Dorchester Branch above; Franklin lines use a connecting track with a separate platform. Platforms are available for the Providence/Stoughton Line on the Northeast Corridor tracks, but they are not regularly used. An MBTA maintenance and storage yard and a CSX Transportation freight yard are located near the station.
Endicott is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Dedham, Massachusetts. It serves the Franklin Line. It is located off Grant Avenue near East Street. The station is not accessible.
Dedham Corporate Center station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Dedham, Massachusetts. It serves the Franklin Line, and is located just off exit 28 of Interstate 95/Route 128. It serves mostly as a park-and-ride location for inbound riders. The station consists of two platforms serving the Franklin Line's two tracks. Previous stations named Dedham Junction and Rust Craft (1955-1977) were located near the modern site.
Norwood Central station is an MBTA Commuter Rail Franklin Line station located near downtown Norwood, Massachusetts. The station has two side platforms serving the two tracks of the Franklin Branch, each with a mini-high section for accessibility. It serves as a park-and-ride location for Boston's southwest suburbs; with 1,041 daily riders it is the busiest station on the line outside Boston. The former station building, a one-story yellow brick structure, has been converted to commercial use.
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.
Forge Park/495 station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail station on the Franklin Line located off Route 140 near Interstate 495 in Franklin, Massachusetts, United States. A park and ride station serving southwestern Boston suburbs and northeastern Rhode Island, it is the outer terminus of the Franklin Line. The station has two side platforms serving a single track, with an accessible mini-high platform and a station building on the south platform.
Windsor Gardens station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Franklin Line station in southern Norwood, Massachusetts. The station has a single side platform serving a single track; it is not accessible. The only entrance to the station is from an adjacent apartment complex; use of the station is not restricted to residents of the complex, though there is no public parking.
Waverley station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Belmont, Massachusetts. It serves the Fitchburg Line. It is located below grade in Waverley Square in the triangle of Trapelo Road, Lexington Street, and Church Street in western Belmont.
The Dedham Branch was a spur line of the Boston and Providence Railroad, opened in 1835, which ran from the junction with the main line at Readville through to central Dedham; it was the first railroad branch line in Massachusetts. In 1966, it became part of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, but was abandoned the next year.
The history of rail in Dedham, Massachusetts begins with the introduction of the first rail line in 1836 and runs to the present day. Multiple railroads have serviced Dedham since then, and current service is provided by the MBTA. The station in Dedham Square built in 1881 out of Dedham Granite was demolished in 1951 and the stones were used to put an addition on the Town's library. There are two active stations today, and multiple others in close proximity.