Wellesley Square station

Wellesley Square station is a commuter rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Framingham/Worcester Line, located just north of the MA 16-MA 135 intersection in downtown Wellesley, Massachusetts. It serves both walk-up and park-and-ride commuters, with a 224-space parking lot for the latter group. The station has low-level platforms and is not accessible.

Wellesley Square
Station platforms viewed from Crest Road in 2013
General information
Location1 Grove Street
Wellesley, Massachusetts
Coordinates42.29755°N 71.29375°W / 42.29755; -71.29375
Line(s)Worcester Line
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Construction
Parking224 spaces ($4.50 fee)
Other information
Fare zone3
History
Openedc. 1850[1]
Rebuilt1889, 1962[1]
Previous namesWellesley
Passengers
2018626 (weekday average boardings)[2]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Natick Center
toward Worcester
 Framingham/​Worcester Line Wellesley Hills
toward South Station
Former services
Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station
Natick
toward Albany
 Boston and Albany Railroad
Main Line
 Wellesley Hills
toward Boston
Location

History
The 1889-built station in June 1959

The Boston & Worcester Railroad (B&W), extending outwards from Boston, reached through the West Parish of Needham in mid-1834.[3] In 1839, the line was double tracked through the area.[4] A station on the B&W opened at West Needham by 1850.[1][5]: 154 [6] It was renamed to Wellesley after the adjacent village in 1863, though the West Parish did not formerly separate from Needham to become Wellesley until 1881.[7] The wood-framed building was moved half a mile to the east in 1889 (where it still stands, in use as a restaurant), when H. H. Richardson's successors Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge designed a stone Richardsonian Romanesque station for the Boston & Albany Railroad (B&A), which had taken over the B&W.[1]

The 1889-built depot was demolished around 1962 to make room for a post office; only bare asphalt platforms remained.[8] Amtrak Inland Route service served it until 1975, and from 1984 to 1986. In 1977 or 1978, the station was renamed Wellesley Square to differentiate it from the other two stations in Wellesley.[9][10]

In 2019, the MBTA listed Wellesley Square as a "Tier I" accessibility priority.[11] In June 2021, the MBTA issued a $28 million design contract for a project to add a third track from Weston to Framingham, including reconstruction of the three Wellesley stations and West Natick station. The project was expected to cost around $400 million, of which rebuilding Wellesley Square station would be $31-35 million, with completion in 2030.[12] As of June 2023, the MBTA plans to pilot a freestanding temporary accessible platform at Beverly Depot in late 2023. If successful, Wellesley Square would be one of the first four stations to receive a temporary platform while a full reconstruction is planned.[13]

References
  1. Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. p. 260. ISBN 9780942147087.
  2. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  3. Humphrey, Thomas J. & Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. pp. 21–25. ISBN 9780685412947.
  4. Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. pp. 278–283. ISBN 0942147022.
  5. Kennedy, Charles J. (Summer 1962). "Commuter Services in the Boston Area, 1835-1860". The Business History Review. 36 (2): 153–170. doi:10.2307/3111453. JSTOR 3111453. S2CID 154294514.
  6. Cobb, Charles (September 1850). American railway guide, and pocket companion, for the United States. Pathfinder Office. p. 74.
  7. Fiske, Joseph E.; Ellen W. Fiske (1917). History of the Town of Wellesley, Massachusetts. Boston, Chicago: The Pilgrim Press. p. 26. OCLC 6541911 – via Internet Archive.
  8. O'Connell, Richard W. (August 18, 1968). "Old railroad depots take on new careers". Boston Globe. p. A-1 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "MBTA System Route Map". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 1977 – via WardMaps.
  10. "MBTA System Route Map". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 1978 – via WardMaps.
  11. "Preview of 2019 Recommendations: Presentation to the FMCB" (PDF). Plan for Accessible Transit Infrastructure (PATI). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. April 1, 2019. p. 12.
  12. Kelly, Maribel (June 21, 2021). "MBTA Contract No. C72PS01: Worcester Line Track and Stations Accessibility Improvements (P0261) Design and Engineering Services" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  13. "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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