Wilmington station (MBTA)

Wilmington is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Wilmington, Massachusetts. It serves the Lowell Line as well as a limited number of trains from the Haverhill Line which run via the Wildcat Branch. It is located near the intersection of Main Street (Routes 38/129) and Church Street (Route 62) in Wilmington's town center. The station is accessible, with mini-high platforms serving both tracks.

Wilmington
Wilmington station in April 2016, viewed from the Route 62 overpass
Location405 Main Street, Wilmington, Massachusetts
Coordinates42.547°N 71.1747°W / 42.547; -71.1747
Line(s)New Hampshire Route Main Line
Wildcat Branch
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Connections LRTA: 12
Construction
Parking191 spaces ($4.00 fee)
7 accessible spaces
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Fare zone3
History
Openedc. 1836
Rebuiltc. 1887; 2003[1]
Passengers
2018584 (weekday average boardings)[2]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Anderson/​Woburn
toward North Station
 Lowell Line North Billerica
toward Lowell
Haverhill Line
rush hours only
 Ballardvale
toward Haverhill

Station layout and history
Interlocking south of Wilmington station in May 2016. This interlocking allows southbound trains from the Wildcat Branch to reach the southbound main, as well as serving as a general purpose crossover.

The platforms are staggered; the southbound platform is entirely to the north of the Route 62 overpass, while over half of the northbound platform is south of the bridge. A pedestrian crossing between the two platforms is located just north of the bridge; until a path from an adjacent apartment complex opened in 2015, this was the only access to the southbound platform.

The station formerly had a single small side platform and no MBTA parking lot. In 1998, the MBTA began planning a $5.2 million renovation which included longer accessible platforms and a 227-space parking lot.[3] The project was completed in 2003 at a total cost of $13 million.[1][4]

The Wildcat Branch, used by Amtrak Downeaster trains and some Haverhill Line express trains, connects with the Lowell Line at Wilmington station. The single-track branch splits from the northbound track just north of the platform. Southbound trains coming from the Wildcat Branch cannot reach the southbound platform; instead, they use the northbound platform. An interlocking south of the station allows these trains to switch onto the southbound track.[5]

The Boston and Lowell Railroad originally had no intermediate stations, but Wilmington petitioned for a stop as early as 1836.[1] An early station building was constructed either for the Andover and Wilmington Railroad in 1835 or 1836, or for the B&L and B&M a decade later.[6][1] It was replaced by a small wooden structure around 1887.[1] Both structures are still extant; the earlier structure was moved east on Church Street in the 1890s and reused as a house, while the newer structure houses a business.[6][1]

References
  1. Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. pp. 272–273. ISBN 9780942147087.
  2. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  3. Devlin, Sean (July 15, 1998). "MBTA takes over train station project plans" (PDF). Wilmington Town Crier. p. 1.
  4. "Planned Accessibility Projects - Along the Commuter Rail". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on August 10, 2004.
  5. 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.
  6. Neilson, Larz F. (October 24, 2010). "The oldest depot in town is not next to the tracks". Wilmington Town Crier.

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