Forge Park/495 station

Forge Park/495 is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Franklin, Massachusetts. It is the terminus of the Franklin Line. It is located near I-495 and Route 140; it serves as a park-and-ride station for Franklin and other communities southwest of Boston.

Forge Park/495
Forge Park/495 station in May 2017
Location1000 West Central Street
Franklin, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°05′24″N 71°26′20″W
Owned byMBTA
Line(s)Franklin Branch
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks1
Connections GATRA Bellingham T shuttles
Construction
Parking716 spaces ($4.00 fee)
15 accessible spaces
Bicycle facilities14 spaces
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Fare zone6
History
OpenedJune 2, 1988[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2018)683 (weekday average boardings)[2]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Terminus Franklin Line Franklin/Dean College
toward South Station

The station has two side platforms serving a single track - a layout unique on the MBTA system.[3] This allows passengers to access trains from the parking lots on both sides of the track. A mini-high platform on the south platform makes the station accessible.

History

The $10 million station opened on June 2, 1988 as a 2.8-mile (4.5 km) extension of the Franklin Line from Franklin/Dean College station.[4][1] It is located not on the former Norfolk County Railroad mainline (which became the Franklin Line), but on the Milford and Woonsocket Railroad which splits from the mainline south of downtown Franklin. Although still an active freight line, the branch had not seen passenger traffic since 1940.[5] The MBTA leased the branch from Conrail for the extension, with the possibility of future purchase.[1] The developer of the adjacent Forge Park industrial park donated 8 acres (3.2 ha) of land to build parking lots for the station.[4] The station was not accessible upon opening; the mini-high platform was added in 1989 along with additional parking and the brick station building.[6][4]

Bus connections

The station is served by two GATRA feeder bus routes:[7]

  • North Bellingham T Shuttle
  • South Bellingham T Shuttle
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References
  1. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit.
  2. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  3. 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.
  4. Howe, Peter J. (June 2, 1988). "MBTA opens new station". Boston Globe – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. pp. 304–306. ISBN 0942147022.
  6. Ackerman, Jerry (March 8, 1989). "T pressured to open all routes to disabled". Boston Globe. pp. 1, 16 – via Newspapers.com. (second page, third page)
  7. "Bellingham T Shuttles". Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority.

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