Northampton, MA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() The historic Union Station building and current station platform | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
General information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | 125A Pleasant Street Northampton, Massachusetts United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 42°19′8.3″N72°37′36.3″W / 42.318972°N 72.626750°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owned by | MassDOT (current station) [1] Harmonic Rock Realty LLC (original building) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line(s) | Connecticut River Line | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tracks | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Train operators | Amtrak | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Connections | Pioneer Valley Transit Authority: 39E, B43, B48, G73E, R41, R42, R44 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parking | Short-term parking | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bicycle facilities | Bike share (ValleyBike Share) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Station code | Amtrak: NHT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | 1897 December 29, 2014 (new platform) | (original station)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FY 2022 | 27,801 [2] (Amtrak) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Union Station is a historic building in Northampton, Massachusetts, that served as a train station from 1897 until 1987. Built at the close of the nineteenth century, the structure incorporates many features of the Richardsonian Romanesque architectural style. The buff brick masses of the station are trimmed with red Longmeadow brownstone and hooded by red tile roofs. Steep dormers protrude from the roofline. The interior once featured Italian marble floors, oak woodwork, and a large fireplace. [3]
The building, which is privately owned, was converted in 2013 into a 200-seat banquet facility, a sports bar, and a facility known as the Tunnel Bar that runs underneath the building. [4]
On December 29, 2014, Amtrak's Vermonter began stopping at a new passenger rail boarding platform located just to the south of the Union Station building. [5] A pilot program added two daily round trips of the Valley Flyer in August 2019.
The Connecticut River Railroad opened to passenger service between Springfield and Northampton in late 1845; trains reached Deerfield in August 1846, Greenfield in December 1847, and the junction with the Central Vermont Railway in January 1849. When the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad reached Brattleboro in 1850, the Connecticut River Railroad began running through service from Springfield to Brattleboro. [6] Over the next century, the line was host to a mix of local and long-distance passenger and freight service. It became part of the route for numerous New York-Montreal trains as early as the 1860s, and was acquired by the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1893. [6] Northampton's Union Station was built in 1896-97 during a project to eliminate grade crossings through downtown Northampton. The station unified two separate stations, serving the Connecticut River mainline, the Central Massachusetts Railroad, the New Haven and Northampton Railroad, and the NH&N's Williamstown Branch. [7] The station opened on Sunday morning December 5, 1897, in time for the departure of the 9:25 a.m. train for Springfield. It was reported that upwards of 2,000 people visited the station on its opening day. [8]
The station was heavily damaged by fire in the early morning hours of October 31, 1928. The fire, which was visible for miles up and down the valley, is said to have attracted a large crowd of late Halloween revelers. Service quickly resumed and the station was rebuilt. [9]
Long-distance passenger service over the line ended in October 1966, with local service between Springfield and Brattleboro lasting several more months. [6] In 1972, Amtrak began running the Montrealer , which ran along the line at night, stopping at Northampton but not Holyoke or Greenfield. [10] The Montrealer was discontinued in 1987 due to poor track conditions on the line.
Montrealer service resumed in 1989 after Amtrak seized control of the line in Vermont from the Boston and Maine Railroad, but the train was rerouted over the Central Vermont Railway through Massachusetts and Connecticut to avoid the still-dilapidated Conn River Line which Amtrak did not control. A stop was added at Amherst to replace Northampton. The Montrealer was replaced by the daytime Vermonter in 1995, using the original route through Connecticut but still avoiding the Connecticut River Line in Massachusetts. [6]
The former station building, associated 200-space parking lot, and the Tunnel Bar that operates under the building in the under-track passage, were purchased by the business entities Harmonic Rock LLC and Notch 8 Inc. in 2013 for $2.55 million. The current owners have added a new 200-seat banquet facility called Union Station Banquets and a bar called the Platform Sports Bar. [4]
In order to shorten travel times on the Vermonter and add additional local service to serve the populated Connecticut River Valley, the Conn River Line was rebuilt with $73 million in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money and $10 million in state funds. [11]
The Vermonter was rerouted to the line on December 29, 2014, stopping at Northampton, and Greenfield. [12] A temporary accessible platform was built at Northampton for the start of service, intended to be replaced by a permanent 400-foot (120 m)-long platform by the end of 2015. [13] The permanent platform was planned to be bid in combination with an underpass connecting the Norwottuck Rail Trail (part of the Mass Central Rail Trail) with the Northampton Bikeway north of downtown. [14] However, the underpass was bid separately in 2016. [15] Construction on a smaller project, extended the existing platform to 146 feet (45 m), began in April 2019. [16] The $1.6 million project was nearly complete by mid-June. [17]
In 2016, over 17,000 passengers boarded or alighted at the station, significantly exceeding a 2009 projection of 10,000 annual riders. [18] On August 30, 2019, Amtrak extended two daily Amtrak-operated Hartford Line round trips (branded as Valley Flyer) to Greenfield as a pilot program. [19]
New Haven Union Station is the main railroad passenger station in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the third such station in the city of New Haven, preceded by both an 1848 built station in a different location, and an 1879 built station near the current station's location. Designed by noted American architect Cass Gilbert, the present beaux-arts Union Station was completed and opened in 1920 after the previous Union Station was destroyed by fire. It served the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad for the next five decades, but fell into decline following World War II along with the United States railroad industry as a whole.
The Vermonter is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between St. Albans, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., via New York City. It replaced the overnight Montrealer, which terminated in Montreal until 1995. Amtrak receives funding from the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont for Vermonter operations north of New Haven.
Springfield Union Station is a train and bus station in the Metro Center area of Springfield, Massachusetts. Constructed in 1926, Springfield Union Station is the fifth-busiest Amtrak station in the Commonwealth, and the busiest outside of Greater Boston.
The New London Northern Railroad was a part of the Central Vermont Railway from New London, Connecticut, north to Brattleboro, Vermont. After a long period with the Canadian National Railway, it is now operated by the New England Central Railroad. The New London Northern was the only through railroad in Connecticut not to come under the control of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
The New England Central Railroad is a regional railroad in the New England region of the United States. It began operations in 1995, as the successor of the Central Vermont Railway (CV). The company was originally a subsidiary of holding company RailTex before being purchased by RailAmerica in 2000. In 2012, the company was purchased by Genesee & Wyoming, its current owner.
Amherst is a former intercity rail station located in Amherst, Massachusetts. The station was built by the Amherst and Belchertown Railroad in 1853; it was served by the Central Vermont Railway until 1947. Amtrak service began in 1989 with the Montrealer; it was replaced by the Vermonter in 1995. The station was closed on December 28, 2014, when the Vermonter was rerouted to the faster Connecticut River Line to the west.
Union Station is an Amtrak intercity rail station located in downtown Brattleboro, Vermont, United States. It is served by the one daily round trip of the Vermonter service. Most of the 1915-built station is occupied by the 1972-opened Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, while Amtrak uses a waiting room on the lower floor. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Bellows Falls station is an Amtrak intercity rail station located in the Bellows Falls village of Rockingham, Vermont, United States. The station is served by the single daily round trip of the Washington, D.C.–St. Albans Vermonter. It has a single side platform adjacent to the single track of the New England Central Railroad mainline.
St. Albans station is an Amtrak train station in St. Albans, Vermont, United States. It is the northern terminus of the daily Vermonter service.
The Hartford Line is a train service run by Amtrak primarily between Springfield, Massachusetts, and New Haven, Connecticut, along Amtrak's New Haven–Springfield Line.
Union Station is a historic former railroad station located in downtown Palmer, Massachusetts. The building, which was designed by American architect H. H. Richardson, opened in June 1884 to consolidate two separate stations nearby. The grounds of the station were originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.
The Connecticut River Railroad was a railroad located along the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts, formed in 1845 from the merger of two unfinished railroads. Its main line from Springfield to East Northfield, Massachusetts, opened in stages between 1845 and 1849. It built several branches and over the years acquired additional lines in Vermont. The railroad was acquired by the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1893.
The Central Corridor Rail Line was a proposed passenger service route between New London, Connecticut, and Brattleboro, Vermont. A primary purpose of the proposed service was to provide a rail link between state flagship schools UConn, UMass Amherst, and UVM.
The John W. Olver Transit Center, also called the JWO Transit Center, is an intermodal transit hub for Franklin County, Massachusetts. Located in Greenfield, it currently serves Franklin Regional Transit Authority (FRTA) local bus routes plus intercity bus service. Amtrak's Greenfield station is also located here, with one daily Vermonter round trip and two daily Valley Flyer round trips, which are extensions of Amtrak-run Hartford Line trains.
The Montrealer was an overnight passenger train between Washington, D.C., United States, and Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The train was operated from 1924 to 1966, and again under Amtrak from 1972 to 1995, excepting two years in the 1980s. The train was discontinued in 1995 and replaced by the Vermonter, which provides daytime service as far north as St. Albans, Vermont. Current Amtrak service to Montreal is provided by the daytime Adirondack from New York City via Albany.
Holyoke station is an Amtrak intercity train station near the corner of Main and Dwight streets in Holyoke, Massachusetts, United States. The station opened on August 27, 2015, eight months after Amtrak's Vermonter service was re-routed to the Connecticut River Line through the Pioneer Valley.
Transportation in New England encompasses the region's rail and highway networks, seaports, and airports. New England has one of the United States' oldest intercity transportation systems, which remain important to the region's economy. It is also home to the continent's first subway system. The densely populated area has many cities and towns connected by rail and road, and the larger cities each have commercial airports with daily flights to destinations outside of the region.
The Connecticut River Line is a railroad line owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), running between Springfield and East Northfield, Massachusetts.
The Connecticut Yankee was a long-distance train in western New England, that in its first two decades was an international night train, established in 1936, that extended from New York City into southeastern Quebec, to Sherbrooke and Quebec City, a 549-mile (884 km) trip. The pooled train covered railroad territories of the New York, New Haven and Hartford, Boston and Maine, Canadian Pacific Railway and the Quebec Central Railway. It was the last U.S.-Canadian train serving the Sherbrooke to eastern Vermont route.
The Valley Flyer is a train service run by Amtrak between New Haven, Connecticut and Greenfield, Massachusetts along Amtrak's New Haven–Springfield Line and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's Connecticut River Line.