Lowell Line

Lowell Line
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	MBTA Commuter Rail
Locale	Northeastern Massachusetts
Termini	Lowell North Station
Stations	9
Operation
Owner	MBTA
Operator(s)	MBCR
Character	Elevated and surface-level
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Route map Manchester (proposed) Manchester Airport (proposed) Merrimack (proposed) Nashua (proposed) New Hampshire–Massachusetts state line Tyngsborough (proposed) North Chelmsford (proposed) 25.5 Lowell 21.8 North Billerica 34 Haverhill Amtrak Connection 15.2 Wilmington 12.7 Anderson RTC Amtrak Connection 11.6 Mishawum 7.8 Winchester Center 7.3 Wedgemere 5.5 West Medford 0 mi North Station Amtrak Connection

The Lowell Line is a railroad line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running north from Boston to Lowell, Massachusetts. Originally built as the Boston and Lowell Railroad, and later operated as part of the Boston and Maine Railroad's Southern Division, the line was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in Massachusetts.

History

Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (April 2008)

The line was first owned by the Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad. That company was chartered in 1844. Trackage was completed as far as Wells River, Vermont, in 1853. The Boston and Maine acquired the railroad in 1895.^[1] The line served as the route for Boston to Montreal service during the Golden Age of Rail (roughly 1880 to 1930). The Ambassador, the train from Boston to Montreal, ran through Concord, New Hampshire, along this line until the mid-1960s.^[2] This line, along with the New Englander, via Concord, White River Junction, Montpelier, ran through the northwestern section of Vermont prior to entering Quebec, Canada. The Alouette and Red Wing trains travelled to Montreal via Concord, Wells River and Newport in northeastern Vermont prior to entering Quebec.^[3] (The route via Wells River, St. Johnsbury and Newport was the more direct route of the two itineraries.)^[4] For this itinerary the Montreal route was marketed as an Air-line railroad.

Boston and Maine passenger service to Boston on the line was shortened from Nashua, New Hampshire to Lowell in 1967.^[5]

In 1973 the MBTA bought the Lowell line, along with the Haverhill and all other local Greater Boston passenger lines. Along with the sale, the B&M contracted to run the passenger service on the Lowell line for the MBTA. After bankruptcy, The B&M continued to run and fulfill its Commuter Rail contract under the protection of the United States Bankruptcy Court, in the hopes that a reorganization could make it profitable again. It emerged from the court's protection when newly-formed Guilford Transportation Industries (GTI) bought it in 1983.

When GTI bought the B&M, commuter rail service was in jeopardy. The MBTA had owned the trains and the tracks since 1973, but it had outsourced the operation to the B&M. When GTI bought the B&M in 1983, it had to honor the B&M contract, but GTI management was very much against passenger rail,^{[citation needed]} and, in 1986, as soon as the contract expired, they let the job go to Amtrak, which operated the entire commuter rail system. (See MBTA Commuter Rail for later systemwide operational history.)

As of 2007, there is a current debate over whether or not to expand the Lowell line to Nashua, New Hampshire and include stations in North Chelmsford and Tyngsborough en route, for the sake of commuters in those towns.

Station listing

Operating stations are shaded in purple.

Milepost	City	Station	Opening date	Connections and notes
0.0	Boston	North Station		Orange Line and Green Line MBTA Commuter Rail north-side lines Amtrak Downeaster service to Maine
		Boston Engine Terminal		A flag stop with a wooden platform for MBTA employees
				MBTA Fitchburg Line, Haverhill/Reading Line and Newburyport/Rockport Line split
	Cambridge	East Cambridge		closed on the old alignment, west of the current route
1.9	Somerville	Prospect Hill		closed originally Milk Row
2.4		Winter Hill		closed
2.8		Somerville Junction		closed originally Somerville split with Lexington and Arlington Branch
3.6		North Somerville		closed
4.0	Medford	Tufts University	November 1976 (had been open previously)	closed October 1979 originally College Hill
4.6		Medford Hillside		closed
5.5		West Medford		originally Medford Gates (in 1835)
7.3	Winchester	Wedgemere		originally Mystic
7.8		Winchester Center		split with Woburn Branch
9.0		Winchester Highlands		closed June 1978
9.8	Woburn	Montvale		closed split with Stoneham Branch
		Lechmere Warehouse	1979	closed 1996 [1]
10.5		Walnut Hill		closed January 17, 1965
11.6		Mishawum	September 24, 1984 (had been open previously)	originally East Woburn, only limited service
12.7		Anderson Regional Transportation Center	April 28, 2001	Amtrak Downeaster service to Maine originally South Wilmington (had been open previously)
15.2	Wilmington	Wilmington		split with Wildcat Branch, carrying the Amtrak Downeaster service (without stopping here)
17.0		Silver Lake		closed June 27, 1965?
	Billerica	East Billerica		closed June 27, 1965
21.8		North Billerica		junction with Billerica and Bedford Branch
24.6	Lowell	Bleachery		closed junction with Lowell and Lawrence Railroad, Lowell Branch (B&M) and Framingham and Lowell Railroad (NYNH&H)
25.5		Lowell		LRTA buses to Lowell and beyond originally Middlesex Street junction with Lowell and Nashua Railroad (B&L)
		Merrimack Street		closed

Accessibility

North Station is wheelchair accessible, as are Anderson RTC and stations north of there. See also MBTA accessibility.

External links

• MBTA - The Lowell Line

References

1. ^ Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad waymark http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM1ECR See also Boston and Maine Corporation#Acquisitions
2. ^ Mike Schafer, Classic American Trains, p. 31.
3. ^ Inter-line Services in New England http://morgwyddelig.com/jbvb/rr/run_thru.html
4. ^ http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~24521~900036:Map-of-the-Montreal-and-Boston-Air-
5. ^ MBTA-MBCR contract of February 19, 2003. Exhibit 18, p. 5.

• Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district (PDF)
• Railroad History Database
• Mileposts from Boston to Montreal High-Speed Rail Planning and Feasibility Study Phase I Final Report and FRA Highway-Rail Crossing Inventory Files

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