Franklin/Dean College station

Franklin/Dean College station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station located in Franklin, Massachusetts near Dean College. It serves the Franklin/Foxboro Line, for which it was the terminus from 1966 to 1988. The station has a mid-sized park and ride lot to serve town residents; Forge Park/495 station is intended to serve commuters from other nearby towns. The 1912-built station building still serves as a waiting hall and café, open during morning commute hours on weekdays. Franklin/Dean College station has a single side platform serving the line's single track; it is not accessible.

Franklin/Dean College
Franklin/Dean College station in June 2010
General information
Location75 Depot Street
Franklin, Massachusetts
Coordinates42.0833°N 71.3961°W / 42.0833; -71.3961
Line(s)Franklin Branch
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
Construction
Parking173 spaces ($4.00 fee)
Bicycle facilities7 spaces
Other information
Fare zone6
History
Rebuilt1906
Passengers
2018633 (weekday average boardings)[1]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Forge Park/495
Terminus
 Franklin/​Foxboro Line Norfolk
toward South Station
Former services
Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station
Blackstone
Terminus
 Midland Line Norfolk
toward Boston
Location

History
The original Franklin depot in 1905
A New Haven Railroad commuter train at Franklin in September 1968

The Norfolk County Railroad opened through Franklin to Blackstone in spring 1849. The line went through several short-lived holding companies before ending up as part of the New York and New England Railroad, under which service ran to Putnam, Hartford, and Waterbury.[2] The original wooden station was replaced with the present stucco-and-brick depot by the New Haven Railroad in 1912. It is in design to the existing 1906-built Needham Junction station and 1905-built Mystic station[3]

Two branch lines diverged just south of Franklin. The Milford and Woonsocket Railroad was extended from Bellingham Junction to Franklin in 1882. The line was never particularly successful; passenger service was gone by 1920, though some Franklin trains ran to Boston via the branch and the Charles River Branch Railroad from 1926 to 1938 and in 1940.[2] The NY&NE's Valley Falls branch operated from Franklin to Valley Falls, Rhode Island beginning in 1877. It provided the NY&NE an entrance to Providence to compete with the Boston and Providence Railroad mainline. Always a slower route than the B&P, it was abandoned by the New Haven in 1941.[2]

Service west of Blackstone was terminated in August 1955 after a major flood caused by Hurricane Diane washed out a bridge at Putnam.[2][4] When the MBTA was formed in August 1964 to subsidize commuter rail service, Walpole was the outer limit of the funding district with guaranteed service. After the New Haven Railroad received permission to cut out-of-district service, Franklin began funding continued service to its stop. On April 24, 1966, the Blackstone Line was cut back to Franklin; several other marginal lines were cut as well.[4][5]

Franklin was the terminus of the line until June 2, 1988, when Forge Park/495 station was opened 3 miles to the west along the former Milford & Woonsocket line.[5] In 2019, the MBTA listed Franklin/Dean College as a "Tier I" accessibility priority.[6] As of June 2023, the MBTA plans to pilot a freestanding temporary accessible platform at Beverly Depot in late 2023. If successful, Franklin would be one of the first four stations to receive a temporary platform while a full reconstruction is planned.[7]

References
  1. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  2. Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. pp. 291–294, 304–306. ISBN 0942147022.
  3. Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. pp. 68, 158. ISBN 9780942147087.
  4. Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. pp. 44–46. ISBN 9780685412947.
  5. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
  6. "Preview of 2019 Recommendations: Presentation to the FMCB" (PDF). Plan for Accessible Transit Infrastructure (PATI). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. April 1, 2019. p. 12.
  7. "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—June 2023" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. June 5, 2023. p. 8.

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