North Wilmington is an

MBTA Commuter Rail The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track to 141 different stations, with 58 statio ...

station in

North Wilmington, Massachusetts North Wilmington is an unincorporated village and populated place in Wilmington, Massachusetts. North Wilmington consists of much of the northern and eastern half of the town. The center of North Wilmington contains the village's MBTA Commuter Ra ...

. It serves the

Haverhill Line The Haverhill Line (formerly named the Haverhill/Reading Line) is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running north from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through the cities and towns of Malden, Melrose, Wakefield, Reading, Wilmington, An ...

, and is located off Middlesex Avenue ( Route 62). It has some of the most limited station faculties on the MBTA system - a single short bare platform serving the line's single track at the location, with a small parking lot and single bus shelter for passengers - but is a stop for all trains on the line. North Wilmington station is not

accessible Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i.e ...

History

The Boston and Maine Railroad Extension opened on July 1, 1845 from Wilmington Junction to Boston, allowing the

Boston and Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the end of 1970, B ...

a route into the city not dependent on the rival

Boston and Lowell Railroad The Boston and Lowell Railroad was a railroad that operated in Massachusetts in the United States. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state. The line later operated as part of the Boston and Maine R ...

. A two-story wooden station was located at North Wilmington on the north side of Middlesex Avenue next to the northbound track, with a small shelter next to the southbound track. The station building was destroyed in a fire caused by a defective chimney on October 26, 1914. A small station building was constructed to replace it. On June 14, 1959 the section from

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

to Wilmington Junction became freight-only, and Haverhill commuter trains as well as intercity service from New Hampshire and Maine were rerouted over the

Wildcat Branch The Wildcat Branch is a single track railroad branch line which connects the MBTA Lowell Line in Wilmington, Massachusetts to the MBTA Haverhill Line at Wilmington Junction. The total length of the branch line from the connection with the Lowell ...

and the lower

Lowell Line The Lowell Line is a railroad line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running north from Boston to Lowell, Massachusetts. Originally built as the New Hampshire Main Line of the Boston & Lowell Railroad and later operated as part of the Boston & M ...

. The Salem Street stop on the Wildcat Branch opened to replace North Wilmington on the mainline. The lone remaining Haverhill trip was discontinued in June 1976. During the

1979 energy crisis The 1979 oil crisis, also known as the 1979 Oil Shock or Second Oil Crisis, was an energy crisis caused by a drop in oil production in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. Although the global oil supply only decreased by approximately four per ...

, service was restored to Haverhill via the pre-1959 route, with several intermediate stops including North Wilmington returned to service. Unlike the stops that had kept service until the 1970s, there was little left at North Wilmington. Like the similarly hastily built stations opened soon after on the

Fitchburg Line The Fitchburg Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system which runs from Boston's North Station to Wachusett station in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The line is along the tracks of the former Fitchburg Railroad, which was built across norther ...

, North Wilmington received a low asphalt platform and a small parking area, with a bus shelter added for passengers. Because the platform is close to Route 62, trains block the road when stopped, which causes delays for emergency services. A plan was made in 1992 to move the platform to allow emergency vehicles to drive around the crossing gates when a train was stopped, but the platform was not moved. In 2018, the MBTA agreed to consider near-term changes as well as a later station reconstruction to fix the problem. In January 2021, the MBTA received a $1 million

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...

grant to relocate the platform to avoid blocking Route 62, as well as to make the station accessible. This allowed the MBTA to self-fund the project, rather than needing town funding. The new platform will be made from a section of a demolished bridge, similar to

Bourne station Bourne station is a train station in Bourne, Massachusetts, served by the CapeFlyer. History Former station The first Bourne station was built by the Cape Cod Branch Railroad when the railroad line was extended from Wareham to Sandwich in 184 ...

. By May 2021, work was expected to be complete by the end of 2021. However, the project was delayed; , design work is expected to be complete in spring 2023, with construction to follow. On January 21, 2022, a motorist was killed when an inbound train struck her auto at the adjacent grade crossing. The initial MBTA investigation indicated that the crossing gates did not function due to an error by a signal technician who was performing

preventive maintenance The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...

References

External links

{{commons category
MBTA - North WilmingtonStation from Middlesex Avenue on Google Maps Street View
MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Wilmington, Massachusetts Railway stations in the United States opened in 1979