Concord station (Massachusetts)
Concord | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Concord station in March 2016 | |||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | 90 Thoreau Street Concord, Massachusetts | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 42°27′24″N 71°21′28″W / 42.45667°N 71.35778°W | ||||||||||
| Owned by | Town of Concord | ||||||||||
| Line(s) | Fitchburg Route | ||||||||||
| Platforms | 2 side platforms | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||
| Parking | 86 spaces (free) | ||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | 10 spaces | ||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||
| Fare zone | 5 | ||||||||||
| Passengers | |||||||||||
| 2018 | 367 (weekday average boardings)[1] | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
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Concord station is a commuter rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line located in downtown Concord, Massachusetts. It has two side platforms, which are low-level and not accessible, serving the line's two tracks.
History[edit]
Fitchburg Railroad service from Concord to Boston began in June 1844, and has continued since.[2] When he lived at Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau complained that the village's schedule was set by the times of arrivals and departures at the station.[3] Although the Fitchburg Line went through a series of contractions due to funding issues in the 1960s and 1970s, service to Concord was never interrupted.[4]
A new station was completed in January 1875.[5] The current station building was built in the Queen Anne style in the 1890s. The new station was damaged by fire in 1895 and substantially rebuilt. When built, it was a squat hip-roofed station similar to other stations on the line. A control tower on the trackside roof was added later.[6]
In 1958, the station building was purchased from the B&M at a cost of $35,000 (equivalent to $370,000 in 2023).[7] It was converted for use as a gift shop by 1962.[8] By 1977, it was subdivided for use as offices, a restaurant, and retail space.[7]
The depot was later modified during the 20th century and scarcely resembles the original. The trackside doors and windows have been boarded over, replaced by a mural painted in the early 1980s. Large side wings have been added, and the building converted for retail use. The circa-1907 express office is present just to the west and also in retail use; a freight house east of the station was demolished in 1991.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
- ^ Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. p. 201. ISBN 0942147022.
- ^ Stilgoe, John R. (1983). Metropolitan Corridor. Yale University Press. p. 209. ISBN 0300030428.
- ^ Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
- ^ "Suburban Notes". The Boston Globe. January 15, 1875. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. pp. 142–143. ISBN 9780942147087.
- ^ a b Henry, Alan P. (August 10, 1977). "There's no depot like an old depot". Boston Globe. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Few Trains, But Stations Still Busy". Boston Globe. February 16, 1962. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
External links[edit]
Media related to Concord station (Massachusetts) at Wikimedia Commons
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