Holyoke station

The former station, c. 1904

The former station in disrepair in 2016

The Connecticut River Railroad Station was built in Holyoke in 1884-5 for the Connecticut River Railroad.[7] Designed by the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson, it was one of the last in his series of Northeastern railroad stations. The station building, which is rectangular in shape, was originally designed with a double-height waiting room lit by high dormers. The building, which was constructed with granite and brownstone, included a slate covered hipped roof with multiple dormers.[8]

In 1965, with passenger service waning, the station was converted into a mechanical shop by Perry's Auto Parts.[9] Long-distance service over the line ended in October 1966, with local service between Springfield and Brattleboro lasting several more months.[5]

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. 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 Connecticut 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.[5]

In 2004 the structure (along with Richardson's house in Brookline, Massachusetts) was cited as one of the ten most endangered historic sites in Massachusetts.[9] In May 2009, as the building sat littered with graffiti and falling into disrepair, it was purchased from a private owner by the City of Holyoke's Gas & Electric department. Plans to repair the building did not at the time include allowing its use as a rail depot.[9] In August 2014 the Holyoke Office of Planning & Economic Development issued a report detailing a number of potential new uses for the former Connecticut River Railroad station building. Proposed potential uses were divided into four broad themes: Food Uses, Collaborative Workspaces & Commercial Uses, Community & Cultural Uses and Academic Engagement & Educational Uses.[11] On November 10, 2019, the station was sold to a private party for $10,000; no preservation plan was announced at that time.[12][13]

Track work at the new station site in October 2014

In order to shorten travel times on the Vermonter and add additional local service to serve the populated Connecticut River Valley, the Pan Am Railways Connecticut River Line was rebuilt with $73 million in federal money and $10 million in state funds.[14] The Vermonter was rerouted to the line on December 29, 2014 with new station stops in Northampton and Greenfield.[15][16][17]

A stop at Holyoke was originally planned to open with Northampton and Greenfield but later delayed. The city considered reactivating the former station building, but instead decided that a site at Dwight Street a block west provided a better place for a modern station design.[18] The new Depot Square Railroad Station, which cost approximately $3.2 million, includes a 400-foot (120 m)-long high level platform, 170-foot-long canopy, and a waiting area and staircase facing Dwight Street. The station has a 25-space parking lot and loop for bus drop off and is fully handicapped accessible.[19] The city first planned a one-car-length "mini-high" platform with a longer stretch of low platform, but changed to the longer high-level platform in 2014.[20] The construction of the new station was funded by a $2 million MassWorks Infrastructure grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.[21]

Construction for the station began in November 2014, and a formal groundbreaking was held on December 22, 2014, one week before the Vermonter was rerouted to the line.[22] The station was then intended to open in April 2015, but construction took longer than expected.[22] Depot Square Railroad Station opened on August 27, 2015.[2] On August 30, 2019, Amtrak extended two daily New Haven–Springfield Shuttle round trips (branded as Valley Flyer) to Greenfield as a pilot program.[23]