Wilmington station (MBTA)

Wilmington station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Wilmington, Massachusetts served by the Lowell Line. It is located near the intersection of Main Street (Routes 38/129) and Church Street (Route 62) in Wilmington's town center. The station is accessible, with mini-high platforms serving both tracks.

Wilmington
Wilmington station in April 2016, viewed from the Route 62 overpass
General information
Location405 Main Street (Route 38)
Wilmington, Massachusetts
Coordinates42.547°N 71.1747°W / 42.547; -71.1747
Line(s)New Hampshire Route Main Line
Wildcat Branch
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
ConnectionsBus transport LRTA: 12
Construction
Parking191 spaces ($4.00 fee)
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zone3
History
Openedc. 1836
Rebuiltc. 1887; 2003[1]
Passengers
2018584 (weekday average boardings)[2]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
North Billerica
toward Lowell
 Lowell Line Anderson/​Woburn
toward North Station
Former services
Preceding station Boston and Maine Railroad Following station
Silver Lake
toward Concord, NH
 Boston – Concord, NH South Wilmington
via mainline
toward Boston
North Woburn
via Woburn Loop
toward Boston

Station layout and history
The 1845-built station building in 2016

The Boston and Lowell Railroad originally had no intermediate stations, but Wilmington petitioned for a stop as early as 1836.[1] An early station building was constructed either for the Andover and Wilmington Railroad in 1835 or 1836, or for the B&L and B&M a decade later.[3][1] It was replaced by a small wooden structure around 1887.[1] Both structures are still extant; the earlier structure was moved east on Church Street in the 1890s and reused as a house.[3][1] The newer structure remains next to the tracks; it was converted to a pizza restaurant by 1977.[4][1]

The platforms are staggered; the southbound platform is entirely to the north of the Route 62 overpass, while over half of the northbound platform is south of the bridge. A pedestrian crossing between the two platforms is located just north of the bridge; until a path from an adjacent apartment complex opened in 2015, this was the only access to the southbound platform.

The station formerly had a single small side platform and no MBTA parking lot. In 1998, the MBTA began planning a $5.2 million renovation which included longer accessible platforms and a 227-space parking lot.[5] The project was completed in 2003 at a total cost of $13 million.[1][6]

The Wildcat Branch, used by Amtrak Downeaster trains and some Haverhill Line express trains, connects with the Lowell Line at Wilmington station. The single-track branch splits from the northbound track just north of the platform. Southbound trains coming from the Wildcat Branch cannot reach the southbound platform; instead, they use the northbound platform. An interlocking south of the station allows these trains to switch onto the southbound track.[7]

References
  1. Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. pp. 272–273. ISBN 9780942147087.
  2. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  3. Neilson, Larz F. (October 24, 2010). "The oldest depot in town is not next to the tracks". Wilmington Town Crier.
  4. Henry, Alan P. (August 10, 1977). "There's no depot like an old depot". Boston Globe. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Devlin, Sean (July 15, 1998). "MBTA takes over train station project plans" (PDF). Wilmington Town Crier. p. 1.
  6. "Planned Accessibility Projects - Along the Commuter Rail". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on August 10, 2004.
  7. Held, Patrick R. (2010). "Massachusetts Bay Colony Railroad Track Charts" (PDF). Johns Hopkins Association for Computing Machinery. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2013.

Media related to Wilmington station (MBTA) at Wikimedia Commons

External video
video icon Trains at Wilmington station, 1946 (at 20:16)
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