Foxboro station

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. It is the terminus of a branch of the Franklin/Foxboro Line service, and is served by trains from Boston via the Franklin/Foxboro Line and from Providence via the Providence/Stoughton Line (Northeast Corridor) during events at Gillette Stadium.

Previous passenger service on the line ran from 1870 to 1933, with several stations in Foxborough. Special service for New England Patriots games and other stadium events ran from 1971 to 1973, then resumed in 1986. Regular weekday service to the station via the Franklin Line was studied in 2010 and proposed in 2014. A pilot program of service was announced in 2017, and ten daily round trips began operation in October 2019. The pilot was suspended in November 2020, but four midday round trips resumed on May 23, 2022. A new one-year pilot began on September 12, 2022, and was made permanent in October 2023. The station is being modified with a permanent full-length high-level platform plus a temporary second platform to support service for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Foxboro station is located in the northern part of Foxboro, adjacent to the Gillette Stadium sports complex and Patriot Place shopping center. It is on the far east side of the site, and is separated from the rest of the complex by the Neponset River. A pedestrian walkway from the station runs under an access road and to the north end of the stadium. The station has a single side platform serving the main track of the Framingham Secondary, with a mini-high section at the south end for accessibility; a passing siding allows freight trains to pass stopped passenger trains at the station.

Weekday trains run between Foxboro and Boston's South Station via the Franklin Branch, connecting to the Franklin Branch at Walpole and serving local stops. Event trains serving South Station run via the Franklin Branch, with intermediate stops only at Back Bay and Dedham Corporate Center. Event trains serving Providence station in Providence, Rhode Island run via the Northeast Corridor (Providence/Stoughton Line), with intermediate stops at South Attleboro, Attleboro, and Mansfield.

The Mansfield and Framingham Railroad opened between its namesake towns in 1870 and was immediately leased to the Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Railroad (later the Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad). In 1879, it became part of the Old Colony Railroad, which was in turn acquired by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1893. There were three stations on the line in Foxborough – Foxvale at Spring Street, Foxboro at Bird Street, and North Foxboro at North Street – plus South Walpole at Summer Street just over the Walpole border.

The original Foxboro station, a three-story structure with a Mansard roof, was a converted coffin shop. A two-story brick station with a Spanish-style roof was constructed in 1911. South Walpole station burned on February 23, 1911, due to a defective chimney, and was soon rebuilt. The lightly used North Foxboro and Foxvale stations were closed in 1928. Remaining passenger service on the line – a single daily round trip between Taunton and Framingham – ended in 1933.

The line remained in use for freight service, passing to Penn Central in 1969 and Conrail in 1976. Special trains were operated to the opening of the Bay State Raceway in 1948. None of the three Foxborough station buildings survive, though the former South Walpole station remains in use as a post office.

The service started with the opening of Schaefer Stadium (later Sullivan Stadium, then Foxboro Stadium) on August 15, 1971, with trains from Boston and Providence. Providence service ended early in the 1973 season due to low ridership; Boston service ended that October. Plans were made to resume Boston service for the 1982 season, but this was interrupted by a railroad strike and an NFL strike. Boston–Foxboro service via the Franklin Line ultimately resumed with the 1986 season. Beginning with the 1989 season, it was moved to the Providence/Stoughton Line, with a reverse move at Mansfield and intermediate stops at Back Bay, Hyde Park (dropped by 1993), Route 128, Canton Junction, Sharon, and Mansfield.