Forge Park/495 station

The Milford, Franklin and Providence Railroad, under control of the Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W), was charted in 1882.[8] It opened in August 1883, connecting Bellingham Junction (where the Milford and Woonsocket Railroad met the Charles River Branch Railroad) to Franklin Junction on the New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE).[9] Unionville station was built soon afterwards at Central Street in the Unionville village in Franklin, near where the modern station is located.[10][11] The small station building was located on the north side of the tracks.[12]

The newly independent Milford and Woonsocket obtained control of the Milford, Franklin and Providence Railroad in 1884. The Milford and Woonsocket was leased by the NY&NE in September 1887. The NY&NE entered bankruptcy in 1893; its 1895 successor New England Railroad was leased by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1898 as its Midland Division. Service between Milford and Franklin was reduced to a mixed train and ended in 1920.[9][8]

Service between Bellingham Junction and Franklin resumed on June 13, 1926, as some Charles River Branch trains were rerouted to Franklin.[9][8][13] Unionville station was no longer served by the time the 88 stations case ended that service on July 18, 1938, nor was it served when the service was briefly revived from March to May 1940.[14][15][9] The line continued in use by freight, eventually becoming the CSX Milford Secondary. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was created in 1964 to subsidize suburban commuter rail service; the Midland Division was cut back to Franklin station in 1966 and became the Franklin Line.[8] The former Unionville station building is no longer extant.[4]

The 1989-added accessible mini-high platform

In September 1985, the National Development investment firm purchased 382 acres (155 ha) of land to build an industrial park called Forge Park near I-495 in Franklin – one of many such developments on the state's circumferential highways that decade. By March 1986, the MBTA had agreed to build a new station with a 1,000-car garage on the Milford Secondary to serve the development, and the state had committed $8 million (equivalent to $17 million in 2021) for the project.[16] The developer donated 8 acres (3.2 ha) of land to build parking lots for the station.[5] It was intended to serve as a park and ride location to reduce crowding at other lots elsewhere in the MBTA system.[17] The MBTA leased the Milford Secondary from Conrail for the extension, with the possibility of future purchase.[1]

The station opened on June 2, 1988, as a 2.8-mile (4.5 km) extension of the Franklin Line. Built at a total cost of $10 million (equivalent to $20 million in 2021), it had a 381-space surface parking lot rather than the originally planned garage.[5][1] Later that month, the MBTA board approved construction of an additional 365-space parking lot at a cost of $2.3 million (equivalent to $4.6 million in 2021).[18] The station was not accessible upon opening; the mini-high platform was added in 1989 along with the additional parking and the brick station building.[19][5][4]

The MBTA initially leased the ticket booth and concession stand to the town for $1 annually; Franklin Youth Services operated the franchise and retained the profits to support its programs.[20] Another new station on the Franklin Line, Dedham Corporate Center, was constructed by National Development to support a different development; it was opened in January 1990.[21][1] A further extension of the Franklin Line from Forge Park/495 to Milford was approved by the MBTA board in March 1989.[22] This extension was studied in 1997 and 2011, and a potential extension to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, via the Milford Secondary and Charles River Branch was studied in 2007, but Forge Park/495 has remained the terminal.[23][24][25]