Boston – Worcester railway line

Boston MA – Worcester MA
Worcester Union Station
Route length:	71.3 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Dual track :	entire line previously had four tracks : Boston – Framingham
Society:	Boston – Framingham: MBTA Framingham – Worcester: CSXT
Legend 0.0 Boston MA South Station Boston MA Albany Station to Plymouth and Islington Interstate 90 Connection towards Plymouth / Islington Interstate 93 to Providence Boston Elevated Railway (5 ×) Boston Subway ( Orange Line ) Back Bay Tunnel 2.1 Back Bay old Boston – Providence line Green Line E End of the Back Bay Tunnel Convention Center tunnel after Brookline 4.1 Yawkey (formerly Keilbahnhof Brookline Junction) Green Line D / Green Line C Green Line B / formerly Green Line A 5.0 University (formerly Cottage Park) from East Boston Beacon Park freight yard 6.9 Allston (formerly Cambridge Crossing) 8.2 Brighton 9.3 Faneuil Interstate 90 Green Line A 11.4 Newton MA 13.0 Newtonville MA MBS (Walnut Street) 14.8 West Newton MA (formerly Davis Tavern) MBS (Washington Street) MBS (Commonwealth Avenue) 16.6 Auburndale MA Interstate 90 17.5 Riverside MA to Newton Highlands Charles River to Newton Lower Falls Interstate 95 20.3 Wellesley Farms MA B&W (Worcester Street) 21.7 Wellesley Hills MA (formerly Needham) 23.7 Wellesley Square MA (formerly Wellesley) Lake Crossing 28.3 Natick MA B&W (Washington Street) MBS (North Main Street) to Saxonville West Natick MA from Mansfield B&W (Hollis Street) after Lowell 34.4 Framingham MA ( wedge station ) to Milford Connections from Lowell and Milford Nevens Yard (freight yard) Framingham Reservoir 2 Sudbury River 38.9 Ashland MA (old letter, formerly Hopkinton) after Franklin Ashland MA (new applicant) Sudbury River 44.3 Southborough MA (formerly Cordaville) 45.2 Southville MA Interstate 90 Industrial connection Interstate 495 Westboro Yard (freight yard) Industrial connection Worcester Tram (East Main Street) 51.3 Westborough MA (old letter) Worcester Tram (Milk Street) Westborough MA (new applicant) Grafton MA to Milford 61.0 North Grafton MA ( wedge station ) Connection from Milford Millbury Junction MA to Millbury Worcester Yard (freight yard) Interstate 290 Worcester Tram (Grafton Street) 71.3 Worcester MA Union Station ( Keilbf. ) from Rochester to Groton and Providence to Albany

The Boston – Worcester railway is a continuous double-track railway line in Massachusetts ( United States ). It is 71 kilometers long and connects the cities of Boston , Newton , Framingham , Grafton and Worcester , among others . The standard-gauge line from Boston to Framingham belongs to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority , which operates the passenger traffic on the entire route. The section west of Framingham belongs to CSX Transportation , which operates the freight traffic on the entire route. The Amtrak has a shared right across the track and drives on them by express train from Boston to Chicago. The original terminus of the line in Boston has been closed, all passenger trains go to the South Station .

history

As early as June 23, 1831, the Boston and Worcester Railroad received the concession to build and operate a railway between their eponymous cities. A further extension to the west was already planned at that time. The route should initially run through Watertown and Waltham . However, these cities were not interested, so the railway company decided on a route over Newton. In Framingham, the route should initially run through the center, after an objection from a toll road operator , the route was moved to South Framingham. Construction began in August 1832 and on April 16, 1833 the line from Boston to West Newton (then Davis Tavern ) was opened after goods traffic had already started on April 4. The line was the first steam-powered railroad in New England. On July 3, 1833, the line was extended to Wellesley Hills (then Needham ), on September 20, 1833 to Ashland (then Hopkinton ) and in November 1834 to Westborough. Worcester Railway Station opened on July 4, 1835, completing the route.

As early as 1839, Boston & Worcester expanded the line between Boston and South Framingham to double-track, and in 1843 the remainder of the line followed. Also in 1843, commuter traffic between Boston and West Newton began, and later to Framingham, for which no single tickets were initially issued, only annual tickets. In 1867 the Boston & Worcester merged with the Western Railroad to form the Boston and Albany Railroad , which became the new operator of the route. By 1884 the line between Boston and Riverside was expanded to four tracks, followed by the section to Lake Crossing in 1894, and the section to Framingham in 1907. On January 1, 1899, the Boston South Station was opened and the line connected to this new station. In 1900 the Boston & Albany was incorporated into the railway system of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad (later New York Central Railroad), but remained operator of the line.

New York Central sold the route of the third and fourth track from Boston to Riverside to the Turnpike Authority, which built Interstate 90 on this section. In 1962 the third and fourth track was also removed between Riverside and Framingham. In 1968, Boston & Albany merged into the Penn Central system. From 1976 the successor company Conrail was the operator. From 1971 long- distance passenger traffic was operated by Amtrak , local traffic operated from January 27, 1973, the MBTA, which had bought the section from Boston to Framingham at the same time. From October 27, 1975 to September 26, 1994, the MBTA suburban trains did not run between Framingham and Worcester. The section west of Framingham was acquired as part of the Conrail takeover in 1999 by CSX Transportation , which has operated freight traffic on the entire route since then. On May 4, 1987, the Back Bay Tunnel with the new Back Bay station was opened and the route above ground was abandoned.

Route description

Entrance to the Back Bay Tunnel going west, tracks to Worcester on the far right, in the middle the underground tracks and on the left the Back Bay station on the route to Providence.

Track next to the Massachusetts Turnpike at Newton.

Framingham Railway Station.

Grafton Station, this replaced the old North Grafton Station in 2000.

The route originally began in a terminus on Beach Street, between Albany Street (now Surface Artery) and Lincoln Street. After the South Station opened in 1899, it was introduced into it. The route initially turns west. At the Back Bay station , which is now an underground wedge station, the line originally ran on a yoke bridge over the Back Bay and crossed the Boston – Providence line on the bridge at the same level , which was immediately adjacent between this terminus and Back Bay when the Boston South Station opened the route to Worcester was built.

The railway line runs west out of the city of Boston and crosses Newton. In this area, Interstate 90 runs right next to the railway line. In Auburndale, the line turns south-west and shortly thereafter reaches Riverside station, where two disused lines turn south to the city of Newton. In Wellesley the railway line turns west again. The route continues through Natick to South Framingham, where Framingham Railway Station is located. Here branches in two triangular tracks to the south and north, as well as a line to Mansfield . In the area around the station several overland tram lines crossed by three different companies, including to Westborough, Uxbridge , Boston, Framingham Center and Saxonville .

The route continues through Ashland to Southborough, where the train station is in the Cordaville district. The route continues through Westborough and Grafton to the west, but turns north at the former Millbury Junction branch station to bend in a generous curve to the south-west on the outskirts of Worcester . Worcester Union Station is in the center of the city. The station building was opened in 1911 and replaced the old station. It was closed in 1975 and fell into disrepair, but was renovated and reopened in 2000.

passenger traffic

In 1869 there were three express trains and one passenger train to Albany, two passenger trains and a Sunday mail train to Springfield, two suburban trains to Worcester, four trains to South Framingham, two trains to Natick and on to Saxonville, five trains to Riverside and further on the route from Boston to Newton Lower Falls, as well as 13 daily trains and three more trains on Sundays via Yawkey to Brookline. A total of 32 trains left the terminus in Boston on weekdays and 36 on Sundays.

In 1901, after the takeover by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad and after the opening of the Boston South Station, a daily express train ("Boston and Chicago Special") left this station via Cleveland to Chicago with through coaches to St. Louis, a daily (" North Shore Limited ") and a weekday (" Chicago Express ") train via Detroit to Chicago, two daily, two weekday and one Sunday express trains via Springfield to New York, a weekday express train to Albany and a daily express train to Cincinnati (" Pacific Express "). There was also a weekday passenger train to Albany, one to Chester and two to Springfield. In addition, numerous suburban trains were offered, namely to Worcester six on working days and four on Sundays, to South Framingham 17 on working days and five on Sundays, to Natick and on to Saxonville two on working days, to Riverside 27 on working days and six on Sundays and after Yawkey and on to Brookline and Riverside 28 trains on weekdays and seven on Sundays. There was also a train on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad via Yawkey and Brookline to Pascoag. The cars on this route to Pascoag were normally coupled to Boston & Albany ring trains, with the exception of this one train. A total of nine express, four passenger and 81 suburban trains ran on weekdays, and six express and 22 suburban trains ran on Sundays.

After the First World War, passenger traffic by rail collapsed more and more as the volume of traffic shifted to the road. 1945 five express trains drove daily to Chicago, namely via Cleveland of the "New England States" with through cars to Pittsburgh, the "Paul Revere", the "Fast Mail" with through cars to Detroit, the "South Shore Express" with through cars to Detroit and over Canada and Detroit the "New England Wolverine". Furthermore, the "Southwestern Limited" drove daily to St. Louis with through cars to Cincinnati, Cleveland and Toronto, the "Niagara" via Canada to Detroit, the "Advance Knickerbocker" to St. Louis with through cars to Buffalo and Cincinnati, the "New York" -Berkshire Express “to Albany with through coaches to New York, three express trains via Springfield to New York and one daily and one Saturday express train to Springfield. There was also a weekday passenger train to Albany, two passenger trains Monday to Friday and one to Springfield on Saturdays. In Worcester, four suburban trains ended Monday through Friday, five on Saturday and four on Sunday. There were twelve trains to Framingham Monday through Friday, eleven on Saturdays and three trains on Sundays, ten trains daily to Riverside, and Yawkey and on via Brookline to Riverside on Mondays to Fridays 16, Saturdays two and five trains on Sundays. A total of 13 express trains (14 on Saturdays) and 45 passenger trains ran Monday to Friday, 42 on Saturdays and twelve on Sundays.

In 2012, in addition to the “Lake Shore Limited” of Amtrak to Chicago, twelve MBTA trains to Worcester and eight to Framingham run on weekdays. There are five trains to Worcester and four to Framingham on Saturdays, five to Worcester and three to Framingham on Sundays.

Sources and further reading

Individual evidence

1. ^ Karr, p. 279.
2. ^ Poor's Manual of the Railroads 1860, sv Boston & Worcester Railroad.
3. ↑ see timetables of the route from the years mentioned.
4. ↑ MBTA timetable for the route

literature

• Ronald D. Karr: The Rail Lines of Southern New England. A Handbook of Railroad History. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 1995. ISBN 0-942147-02-2
• Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. (2nd edition) SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010. ISBN 1-874745-12-9

Web links

• 

  Commons : MBTA Framingham / Worcester Line  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
• 

  Commons : Worcester Union Station  - Album containing pictures, videos and audio files