Concord station (Massachusetts)

Concord station is a commuter rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line located in downtown Concord, Massachusetts. It has two side platforms, which are low-level and not accessible, serving the line's two tracks.

Concord
Concord station in March 2016
General information
Location90 Thoreau Street
Concord, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°27′24″N 71°21′28″W
Owned byTown of Concord
Line(s)Fitchburg Route
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Construction
Parking86 spaces (free)
Bicycle facilities10 spaces
Other information
Fare zone5
Passengers
2018367 (weekday average boardings)[1]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
West Concord
toward Wachusett
 Fitchburg Line Lincoln
toward North Station

History
The original trackside windows and doors have been boarded up and replaced with painted-on copies. The structure on the roof was formerly a control tower.

Fitchburg Railroad service from Concord to Boston began in June 1844, and has continued since.[2] When he lived at Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau complained that the village's schedule was set by the times of arrivals and departures at the station.[3] Although the Fitchburg Line went through a series of contractions due to funding issues in the 1960s and 1970s, service to Concord was never interrupted.[4]

A new station was completed in January 1875.[5] The current station building was built in the Queen Anne style in the 1890s. The new station was damaged by fire in 1895 and substantially rebuilt. When built, it was a squat hip-roofed station similar to other stations on the line. A control tower on the trackside roof was added later.[6]

In 1958, the station building was purchased from the B&M at a cost of $35,000 (equivalent to $355,000 in 2022).[7] It was converted for use as a gift shop by 1962.[8] By 1977, it was subdivided for use as offices, a restaurant, and retail space.[7]

The depot was later modified during the 20th century and scarcely resembles the original. The trackside doors and windows have been boarded over, replaced by a mural painted in the early 1980s. Large side wings have been added, and the building converted for retail use. The circa-1907 express office is present just to the west and also in retail use; a freight house east of the station was demolished in 1991.[6]

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. p. 201. ISBN 0942147022.
  3. Stilgoe, John R. (1983). Metropolitan Corridor. Yale University Press. p. 209. ISBN 0300030428.
  4. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
  5. "Suburban Notes". The Boston Globe. January 15, 1875. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. pp. 142–143. ISBN 9780942147087.
  7. Henry, Alan P. (August 10, 1977). "There's no depot like an old depot". Boston Globe. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Few Trains, But Stations Still Busy". Boston Globe. February 16, 1962. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.

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