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Fitchburg Line
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Fitchburg Line
The Fitchburg Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system which runs from Boston's North Station to Wachusett station in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, United States. The line is along the tracks of the former Fitchburg Railroad, which was built across northern Massachusetts in the 1840s. Winter weekend service includes a specially equipped seasonal "ski train" to Wachusett Mountain.
At 54 miles (87 km) long, the Fitchburg Line is the third-longest line in the system (and was the longest until the Providence/Stoughton Line's 2010 extension to T. F. Green Airport and later to Wickford Junction), and ranked as one of the worst lines in terms of on-time performance. The Fitchburg Line had the oldest infrastructure in the system, and commuter trains must share trackage with freight trains on the outer segment of the line. A $150 million project completed in 2017 included adding nine miles of double track, an extension to Wachusett, rebuilding two stations, and building a new layover yard. Only ten of the line's nineteen stations, including both terminals, are fully handicapped accessible – the lowest proportion of any MBTA Commuter Rail line.
The Fitchburg Railroad was founded in 1842, and completed from Boston to Fitchburg in 1845. In 1854, Henry David Thoreau wrote about his skepticism of the Fitchburg Railroad near Walden Pond in his book Walden. The Boston and Maine Railroad leased the Fitchburg Railroad in 1900 and bought it outright in 1919.
In 1948, The Master Highway Plan for the Boston Metropolitan Area proposed the construction of eight radial expressways around Boston connecting to the Inner Belt, Interstate 695. A section of the Northwest Expressway, carrying a concurrency of Route 2 and Route 3, was to run along the Fitchburg right-of-way from Union Square in Somerville to Sherman Street in North Cambridge. This expressway would have taken up some or all of the trackbed, which was then four tracks wide in that section. After successful highway revolts, Governor Francis W. Sargent placed a hold on all highway construction inside Route 128 in 1970. Following a study, Sargent permanently canceled the 1948 plans in 1972, thus also securing the corridor's future for railroad use.
In January 1958, passenger service on the Fitchburg Division was cut back from the B&M's western terminal in Troy, New York to Williamstown; branch line service to Bellows Falls, Vermont, (with connections for Montreal) and Maynard was discontinued that May, while Main Line service was further truncated to Greenfield in December. All service west of Fitchburg was dropped on 23 April 1960.
When the newly formed MBTA began subsidizing the Boston & Maine Railroad's intrastate service on January 18, 1965, service was only kept to communities in the MBTA's limited funding district. All service on the Fitchburg Line west of West Concord was cut, as was the low-ridership stop at Riverview; several other northside lines were cut or run at reduced service levels as well. The MBTA scrambled to find funding; subsidy agreements were soon reached with towns along the lines. Service was restored as far as Ayer on June 28, 1965, along with the outer Rockport Branch and full schedules on the Lowell and Ipswich routes.
Although some gains were made, including the reopening of Belmont Center and Waverley stations on March 4, 1974, the system continued to hang on by thin margins. The Central Mass Branch, which shared trackage with the Fitchburg, was cut on November 26, 1971. In December 1973, state subsidies for towns outside the MBTA funding district were halved, resulting in the MBTA needing to renegotiate subsidies from 14 municipalities. Ultimately Ayer, with just 14 daily commuters, refused to pay its $8,200 bill in 1974; Littleton also refused $12,300 for its 21 riders. On March 1, 1975, the line was cut back to South Acton, dropping stops at Ayer, Littleton, and West Acton. Two lightly used stops in Waltham – Clematis Brook and Beaver Brook – closed in June 1978.
On December 27, 1976, the MBTA bought the Boston and Maine Railroad's northside commuter rail assets, including the entire length of the Fitchburg Line. The closure of the Lexington Branch the next month represented the limit of the contraction of the northside lines; as a result of the 1970s energy crisis and especially the 1979 energy crisis, a period of rapid expansion began in the end of the 1970s. Service was restored to Fitchburg and beyond to Gardner on January 13, 1980. Potential infill stations in Westminster and South Ashburnham were included in a 1981 fare tariff, but never added. Gardner service was ended on January 1, 1987, when Amtrak took over the MBTA contract, due to a dispute between Amtrak and Guilford; the MBTA only owned the trackage to Fitchburg.
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Fitchburg Line
The Fitchburg Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system which runs from Boston's North Station to Wachusett station in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, United States. The line is along the tracks of the former Fitchburg Railroad, which was built across northern Massachusetts in the 1840s. Winter weekend service includes a specially equipped seasonal "ski train" to Wachusett Mountain.
At 54 miles (87 km) long, the Fitchburg Line is the third-longest line in the system (and was the longest until the Providence/Stoughton Line's 2010 extension to T. F. Green Airport and later to Wickford Junction), and ranked as one of the worst lines in terms of on-time performance. The Fitchburg Line had the oldest infrastructure in the system, and commuter trains must share trackage with freight trains on the outer segment of the line. A $150 million project completed in 2017 included adding nine miles of double track, an extension to Wachusett, rebuilding two stations, and building a new layover yard. Only ten of the line's nineteen stations, including both terminals, are fully handicapped accessible – the lowest proportion of any MBTA Commuter Rail line.
The Fitchburg Railroad was founded in 1842, and completed from Boston to Fitchburg in 1845. In 1854, Henry David Thoreau wrote about his skepticism of the Fitchburg Railroad near Walden Pond in his book Walden. The Boston and Maine Railroad leased the Fitchburg Railroad in 1900 and bought it outright in 1919.
In 1948, The Master Highway Plan for the Boston Metropolitan Area proposed the construction of eight radial expressways around Boston connecting to the Inner Belt, Interstate 695. A section of the Northwest Expressway, carrying a concurrency of Route 2 and Route 3, was to run along the Fitchburg right-of-way from Union Square in Somerville to Sherman Street in North Cambridge. This expressway would have taken up some or all of the trackbed, which was then four tracks wide in that section. After successful highway revolts, Governor Francis W. Sargent placed a hold on all highway construction inside Route 128 in 1970. Following a study, Sargent permanently canceled the 1948 plans in 1972, thus also securing the corridor's future for railroad use.
In January 1958, passenger service on the Fitchburg Division was cut back from the B&M's western terminal in Troy, New York to Williamstown; branch line service to Bellows Falls, Vermont, (with connections for Montreal) and Maynard was discontinued that May, while Main Line service was further truncated to Greenfield in December. All service west of Fitchburg was dropped on 23 April 1960.
When the newly formed MBTA began subsidizing the Boston & Maine Railroad's intrastate service on January 18, 1965, service was only kept to communities in the MBTA's limited funding district. All service on the Fitchburg Line west of West Concord was cut, as was the low-ridership stop at Riverview; several other northside lines were cut or run at reduced service levels as well. The MBTA scrambled to find funding; subsidy agreements were soon reached with towns along the lines. Service was restored as far as Ayer on June 28, 1965, along with the outer Rockport Branch and full schedules on the Lowell and Ipswich routes.
Although some gains were made, including the reopening of Belmont Center and Waverley stations on March 4, 1974, the system continued to hang on by thin margins. The Central Mass Branch, which shared trackage with the Fitchburg, was cut on November 26, 1971. In December 1973, state subsidies for towns outside the MBTA funding district were halved, resulting in the MBTA needing to renegotiate subsidies from 14 municipalities. Ultimately Ayer, with just 14 daily commuters, refused to pay its $8,200 bill in 1974; Littleton also refused $12,300 for its 21 riders. On March 1, 1975, the line was cut back to South Acton, dropping stops at Ayer, Littleton, and West Acton. Two lightly used stops in Waltham – Clematis Brook and Beaver Brook – closed in June 1978.
On December 27, 1976, the MBTA bought the Boston and Maine Railroad's northside commuter rail assets, including the entire length of the Fitchburg Line. The closure of the Lexington Branch the next month represented the limit of the contraction of the northside lines; as a result of the 1970s energy crisis and especially the 1979 energy crisis, a period of rapid expansion began in the end of the 1970s. Service was restored to Fitchburg and beyond to Gardner on January 13, 1980. Potential infill stations in Westminster and South Ashburnham were included in a 1981 fare tariff, but never added. Gardner service was ended on January 1, 1987, when Amtrak took over the MBTA contract, due to a dispute between Amtrak and Guilford; the MBTA only owned the trackage to Fitchburg.
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