Norwood Central station

Norwood Central is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Norwood, Massachusetts. It serves the Franklin Line, and is located slightly south of downtown Norwood. It is a major park-and-ride location for Boston's southwest suburbs; with 1,041 daily riders it is the busiest station on the line outside Boston.[1] Norwood Central has two side platforms, each with a mini-high section making the station accessible.

Norwood Central
Norwood Central station in June 2010
Location	164 Broadway, Norwood, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°11′20″N 71°12′00″W
Owned by	MBTA
Line(s)	Franklin Branch
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Parking	782 spaces ($4.00 fee) 16 accessible spaces
Bicycle facilities	27 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	3
History
Opened	1852
Rebuilt	1899
Passengers
2018	1,041 (weekday average boardings)[1]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station Windsor Gardens toward Forge Park/495 or Foxboro Franklin Line Norwood Depot toward South Station
Former services Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station Plimptonville toward Blackstone Midland Line Norwood Depot toward Boston

History

Norwood Central station in 1906

The Norfolk County Railroad opened from Dedham to Walpole on April 23, 1849. South Dedham was originally the only station in what is now Norwood (then part of Dedham). Dedham Middle station, a small wooden building, was added around 1852.[2] It was renamed Norwood Central in 1872 when Norwood separated from Dedham.[3]

A new one-story brick station building was constructed by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1899. It was similar to no-longer-extant stations built around the same time at Forest Hills, Atlantic, Quincy, and Warren.[3] Unusually, the downspouts are built into the brickwork rather than affixed internally.[3]

Norwood Central is still served by the MBTA Commuter Rail Franklin Line, but the station building is now occupied by businesses.[3] An MBTA project around 1990 included reonvation of the station building and acccessible mini-high platforms.[4]

When Boston–Foxboro service for Gillette Stadium events was moved to the Franklin Line in 1994, Norwood Central and Dedham Corporate Center stations were intermediate stops.[5][6] Norwood Central was dropped from these trains beginning with the 2011 season.[7][8]

Solar panels were installed over part of the east parking lot in 2018 – one of the first three of a planned 37 such installations at MBTA parking lots.[9]

References

1. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
2. Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. pp. 43–45. ISBN 9780685412947.
3. Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. pp. 210–211. ISBN 9780942147087.
4. "Notice to Bidders". Boston Globe. April 28, 1989. p. 60 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit.
6. "T Patriots train!". Boston Globe. August 15, 1997. p. 86 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "New England Patriots 2010 / 2011 Football Trains to Gillette Stadium". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on November 26, 2010.
8. "New England Patriots 2011/2012 Football Trains to Gillette Stadium". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on September 7, 2011.
9. DiFazio, Joe (November 17, 2018). "MBTA turns to solar arrays at South Shore train stations". Patriot Ledger. Retrieved January 21, 2021.

External links

Media related to Norwood Central station at Wikimedia Commons

• MBTA - Norwood Central