Route 128 station

The Boston and Providence Railroad (B&P) was extended south from Dedham Lodge to Canton on September 12, 1834.[14]^:29 The B&P opened Green Lodge station, located at the crossing of the eponymous street near the modern station location, around 1860.[14]^:31 The B&P was leased by the Old Colony Railroad in 1888, and in turn by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1893; Green Lodge station was closed in the mid-1920s.[14]^:31 The grade crossing was replaced with a bridge around 1932 as part of the construction of the original Circumferential Highway.[15] A Westwood woman, Marie Spokesfield, was struck by a train below the bridge on September 21, 1934. Her husband, accused of having murdered her and thrown the body from the bridge, was found not guilty by a directed verdict in March 1935.[16][17]

A southbound Amtrak train at Route 128 station in November 1974

The New Haven Railroad opened Route 128 station on April 26, 1953, on the same site as the former Green Lodge station.[18][3] Intended for intercity passengers driving from the suburbs on the then-under-construction Route 128 expressway, the station had 1,500-foot (460 m)-long platforms to accommodate intercity trains and a 1200-space parking lot.[18] Two small prefabricated shelters, manufactured as garages, served as waiting rooms.[1] The station was built in one week at a cost of $300,000 (equivalent to $2,330,000 in 2019).[18] Opened at the direction of New Haven president Frederic C. Dumaine, Jr., Route 128 station was among the first dedicated park and ride stations built in the country.[1] It quickly became a preferred station for suburban commuters, who represented a majority of station traffic by the 1980s.[14]^:31

The original station structures were replaced in 1965 with larger brick buildings.[1] A pedestrian overpass originally from Wickford Junction was added in 1971.[19] The New Haven Railroad folded into Penn Central at the end of 1968; Amtrak took over intercity service on May 1, 1971, with the former B&P part of its Northeast Corridor mainline. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), formed in 1964 to subsidize suburban commuter service, gradually took over local trains.[20] The MBTA bought Penn Central's southside lines and stations on January 27, 1973, and began subsidizing service as far as Canton Junction on the Stoughton Branch and Sharon on the Providence Line in June 1973.[20] Conrail took over Penn Central on April 1, 1976; beginning on March 12, 1977, the MBTA contracted the Boston and Maine Railroad to run all southside service.[20]

By the early 1990s, Boston–Foxboro trains for events at Foxborough Stadium operated over the Northeast Corridor, with intermediate stops including Route 128.[21] When Providence–Foxboro event service resumed in 1994, Boston–Foxboro service was rerouted over the Franklin Line.[20][22][23]

The bridge that carried Green Lodge Street over the tracks was closed around 1977 and later removed; the abutments still flank the platforms.[24][25][26] Plans to rebuild the bridge were delayed in 1992–93 as capital funds were redirected to restoration of the Old Colony Lines.[27] Canton officials, seeking to avoid additional traffic on the residential portion of Green Lodge Street, opposed a new bridge; by 1998, it was no longer planned.[24]

The Amtrak waiting room in 2016

A late 1980s proposal to construct a parking garage and hotel at the station was scrapped due to local opposition.[28] By 1990, plans for the Northend Electrification Project included the construction of accessible high-level platforms at the station.[29] Conceptual designs for a replacement station were completed in June 1991.[30] By 1995, the parking lot frequently reached capacity, forced riders to park on nearby streets.[28][31] In November 1997, the MBTA Board approved plans to replace the aging station.[32] The 850-space surface lot (which usually had 100–200 additional vehicles illegibly parked around its perimeter) would be replaced by a 2,750-space, four-level parking garage. The MBTA would pay $20.6 million of the $43.2 million cost, with Amtrak funding the remaining $22.6 million.[33]

Construction of the new platforms began in August 1998. That month, construction of the garage was delayed until 1999 because Dedham and Westwood objected to potential runoff from the garage. The towns insisted on a roof over the parking garage, which the MBTA claimed would add $1 million to the cost.[34] The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection approved the garage project in December 1998.[35] Station construction began in late 1998, but the garage was further delayed due to continued dispute with the towns.[8] Garage construction ultimately began in May 1999.[36]

The first portion of the garage, with 550 spaces, opened on November 1, 1999.[37][38] The remainder of the garage, except for the top level, opened in on January 18, 2000.[11][10] The new station building, platforms, and footbridge opened in 2000; the older station buildings were demolished that November.[39]^:312[1] The Acela Express service (which could only use high-level platforms) began running in December 2000.[1]

The MBTA began planning for transit-oriented development adjacent to the station by the 1990s.[40]^:3.18 In 2006, two development companies announced plans for a 30-building, 130-acre (53 ha) project called Westwood Station.[41] The project was controversial with local residents due to traffic concerns and the proximity of an exit ramp to existing residences.[42] The project was shelved in 2010 due to the recession, but construction on the renamed University Station project began in 2013.[43] Most construction was completed by 2019; that year, Citizens Bank agreed to construct an office as a major commercial anchor for the project.[44]

The MBTA entrance to the garage in 2017

The financing plan for the garage controversially relied heavily on customer revenues, which initially failed to meet expectations.[45] This plan caused parking fees to be higher than other MBTA Commuter Rail stations; the daily fee increased from $1 to $3 when the garage opened.[46][38] By October 2003, only about 1,000 of the garage spaces were used, in part due to the higher fees.[46] In July 2004, the MBTA attempted to sell sponsorship rights for the garage, which is visible from Route 128/I-95.[47] The top floor of the garage was not opened with the rest of the garage in 2000 due to an environmental agreement between the MBTA, Dedham, and Westwood. It opened around 2005 with the completion of a widened ramp from Route 128/I-95 eastbound to I-95 southbound.[10][48][49]

Some local commuters continued to park on the east side of the station along Green Lodge Street to avoid parking fees. The MBTA planned to curtail this by shutting off pedestrian access, but abandoned this plan in March 2000 after pressure from Canton officials.[50][26] The Metropolitan District Commission closed an illegal unpaid dirt lot on the east side of the station in November 2001 due to water pollution concerns, though parking on Green Lodge Street remained.[51] In 2003, Canton began charging for daily parking along Green Lodge Street.[52][53]

As of January 2021, the MBTA plans to issue a $12 million contract for repairs to the garage in 2021.[54]

The northbound platform elevator in 2016

The 2000-opened elevators and escalators, which are necessary for many passengers to access the platforms, soon proved unreliable.[55][56] In early 2013, the escalator serving the southbound platform failed and was not repaired due to lack of funding for replacement.[57] The northbound platform escalator and one elevator failed in early 2015, prompting Amtrak to initiate replacement of both escalators and elevators. The replacement process was originally expected to require both elevators to be out of service until the project was complete in early 2016.[58] The elevators were taken out of service on July 20, 2015; Amtrak provided an accessible shuttle service between both platforms and the station building.[59] The elevators returned to service on September 1, 2015, though the escalators remained out of service for several months longer.[60] However, elevators and escalators inside the station building suffered similar issues for the next several years. Because Amtrak is except from state and local building laws, it circumvented normal rules that require regular elevator inspections.[61]

Extension of the Orange Line rapid transit service from Forest Hills to Route 128 has been considered on several occasions. The 1966 Program for Mass Transportation recommended a bifurcated Orange Line, with one branch to West Roxbury or Bird's Hill and another to either Readville or Route 128 via Hyde Park.[62] Various reports over the next two decades continued to recommend various combinations of the extensions; however, due to cost, the 1987 relocation of the Orange Line to the Southwest Corridor was terminated at Forest Hills.[63] The 2004 Program for Mass Transportation listed an extension to Route 128 with intermediate stops at Mount Hope, Hyde Park, and Readville at a cost of $342.8 million. The extension was listed as low priority due to environmental issues with crossing the wetlands south of Readville, and because the corridor already has commuter rail service.[64]

Planning for the Northend Electrification Project indicated that a third track between Readville and Route 128 would be required by 2008 to allow Amtrak trains to pass MBTA trains.[40]^:A.38[65] In the 2010 Northeast Corridor Master Plan, Amtrak indicated medium-term plans to add this third track. The third track would be located west of the southbound platform, with it converted to an island platform.[66]