Westborough station#History

File:Former Westborough station HDR, September 2016.jpg

The Boston and Worcester Railroad (B&W) opened from Boston to Westborough on November 17, 1834, and on to Worcester the next July.{{cite book |title=Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years |last1=Humphrey |first1=Thomas J.|last2=Clark |first2=Norton D. |publisher=Boston Street Railway Association |year=1985 |isbn=9780685412947 |pages=21, 24}} The line ran through the town center, with a station east of Main Street.{{cite web |url=http://www.wardmaps.com/viewasset.php?aid=12375 |title=Westborough |year=1898 |work=New Topog. Atlas of the County of Worcester |publisher=L.J. Richards |via=WardMaps}}{{cite web |url=http://www.wardmaps.com/viewasset.php?aid=748 |title=Westborough |year=1870 |work=Atlas of Worcester County, Massachusetts |publisher=J.B. Beers & Co. |via=WardMaps}} Westborough was a station stop by 1838.{{cite book |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hn4hia&view=1up&seq=62 |page=50 |title=The Boston Almanac for the Year 1838 |first=S.N. |last=Dickinson |year=1838}}

In 1898, the Boston and Albany Railroad, successor to the B&W, began a project to eliminate dangerous grade crossings in downtown Westborough. {{Convert|1.5|miles}} of new tracks were built north of the downtown area along with a new station. The station was built in a Richardsonian Romanesque style, but designed by a B&A architect rather than the firm of Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge which had designed stations for the B&A until 1894.{{cite book |title=A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses |last=Roy |first=John H. Jr. |publisher=Branch Line Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780942147087 |page=267}}{{cite journal |jstor=990324 |title=Architecture for the Boston & Albany Railroad: 1881-1894 |journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |first=Jeffrey Karl |last=Ochsner |volume=47 |issue=2 |date=June 1988 |doi=10.2307/990324 |page=115}}

On April 24, 1960, the New York Central sharply cut services on the former B&A line. All local stops west of Framingham, including Westborough, were eliminated. Amtrak planned to stop its Bay State at Westborough in 1972, but the stop was never actually put in place.{{cite book |url=http://www.timetables.org/browse/?group=19720116&item=0049 |title=Nationwide Schedules of Intercity Passenger Service |page=48 |publisher=Amtrak |date=January 16, 1972 |via=Museum of Railway Timetables}} Commuter service to Worcester ended in 1975, replaced by a single daily Amtrak train which did not stop between Framingham and Worcester. The station building was purchased by an abrasives company but largely unused, and fell into disrepair. A local civil engineering firm purchased the station in January 2000 and restored it for use as their offices, which opened in February 2001.

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In 1994, service to Worcester was restored as mitigation for delays with reopening the Old Colony Lines. Service initially ran nonstop from Framingham to Worcester, but intermediate park and ride stops were added later as mitigation for delays in reopening the Greenbush Line. After the opening of {{bts|Grafton}} in 2000 caused traffic congestion in the town, officials from Ashland, Southborough, and Westborough asked that their three stations open within a 90-day span to avoid overwhelming any one town with traffic. The three stations, which together cost $14.2 million, were originally scheduled to open on December 31, 2001.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37896567/the_boston_globe/ |title=They'll wait for the stations a little longer |first=Ted |last=Flanagan |date=October 16, 2001 |newspaper=Boston Globe |page=28 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} However, they were delayed by several factors, including a debate on whether to build full-length high-level platforms. Those were ruled out because they interfere with freight traffic; instead, smaller "mini-high" platforms plus long low platforms were built.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37896591/the_boston_globe/ |title=Hear that whistle blowin' |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=June 16, 2002 |first=Jonathan |last=Saltzman |pages=148, 150 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}} ([https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37896614/the_boston_globe/ second page]) {{bts|Southborough}} and Westborough opened on June 22, 2002, followed by {{bts|Ashland}} on August 24.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37897520/the_boston_globe/ |title=New stations popular with commuters: Town's rail stop will open Aug. 24 |first=Jonathan |last=Saltzman |page=111 |newspaper=Boston Globe |via=Newspapers.com |date=August 11, 2002}}{{open access}}{{NETransit}}

It is not located as the former station site, but instead to the west of downtown Westborough, closer to busy Route 9. The $4.9 million station originally included 311 parking spaces.{{cite web |url=http://www.ctps.org/bostonmpo/4_resources/2_transreport/archive/trpt0802.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110116141334/http://ctps.org/bostonmpo/4_resources/2_transreport/archive/trpt0802.pdf |archivedate=16 January 2011 |title=New MBTA Commuter Rail Stations Open; Train Service Expanded |work=TRANSreport |date=August 2002 |publisher=Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization}} Due to high demand, an additional 142-space lot costing $500,000 was opened on December 28, 2005.{{cite web |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110116153234/http://ctps.org/bostonmpo/4_resources/2_transreport/archive/trpt0206.pdf |archivedate=16 January 2011 |url=http://www.ctps.org/bostonmpo/4_resources/2_transreport/archive/trpt0206.pdf |title=MPO Agency Notes |work=TRANSreport |date=February 2006 |publisher=Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization |accessdate=28 December 2012}}{{cite press release |url=https://www.mbta.com/news/2005-12-28/mbta-completes-parking-expansion-project-westborough-commuter-rail-station |title=MBTA Completes Parking Expansion Project At Westborough Commuter Rail Station |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority |date=December 28, 2005}}

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• [https://www.mbta.com/stops/place-WML-0340 MBTA – Westborough]

{{Amtrak Massachusetts stations}}

Category:Former Boston and Albany Railroad stations

Category:MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Worcester County, Massachusetts

Category:Buildings and structures in Westborough, Massachusetts