Sharon station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in

Sharon, Massachusetts Sharon is a New England town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,575 at the 2020 census. Sharon is part of Greater Boston, about southwest of downtown Boston, and is connected to both Boston and Providence by ...

. It serves the

Providence/Stoughton Line The Providence/Stoughton Line is an MBTA Commuter Rail service in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, primarily serving the southwestern suburbs of Boston. Most service runs entirely on the Northeast Corridor between South Station in Boston and Prov ...

. The station has two separate entrances for inbound trains to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and for outbound trains to Providence and beyond. Sharon station is the only public transportation in the Sharon area, as there are no public bus lines in the town. New platforms were constructed in 2014 to make the station

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. ...

History

The

Boston and Providence Railroad The Boston and Providence Railroad was a railroad company in the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island which connected its namesake cities. It opened in two sections in 1834 and 1835 - one of the first rail lines in the United States - with a ...

started full operations between the two cities in June 1835, including a station at the modern location in Sharon. In the 1870s, the original Sharon station was replaced by a larger building similar to those still extant at East Greenwich and Kingston in Rhode Island. The Boston and Providence was leased by the

Old Colony Railroad The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall Ri ...

in 1888, which was in turn absorbed by the

New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

in 1893. The current inbound station building and the small outbound shelter were designed by F.J. Pitcher and built in 1936 by the New Haven Railroad. The station building was formerly a private business, but is now open to commuter rail riders.

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

took over New Haven Railroad commuter operations on January 1, 1969. On January 27, 1973, the MBTA acquired a number of Penn Central's Boston commuter lines, including the Providence/Stoughton Line. In June 1973, the MBTA began subsidizing commuter rail service to Sharon. The town had been part of the MBTA district since 1964. From 1989 to 1994, Boston– trains for events at

Foxboro Stadium Foxboro Stadium, originally Schaefer Stadium and later Sullivan Stadium, was an outdoor stadium in the New England region of the United States, located in Foxborough, Massachusetts. It opened in 1971 and served as the home of the New England ...

operated over the Northeast Corridor, with intermediate stops including Sharon. Boston–Foxboro service was rerouted over the

Franklin Line The Franklin Line, also called the Franklin/Foxboro Line, is part of the MBTA Commuter Rail system. It runs from Boston's South Station in a southwesterly direction toward Franklin, Massachusetts, utilizing the Northeast Corridor before splittin ...

in 1995. Overcrowding of the parking lot led to plans for a 102-space expansion in 1999 and a 31-space expansion in 2003; neither were built.

Accessibility

Until 2014, Sharon was the busiest station on the system that was not accessible. All other stations with daily ridership above 1,000 passengers had accessible high-level platforms, as did all other stations on the busy Providence/Stoughton Line. After an accessibility complaint was filed in May 2011, construction was mandated to take place by November 1, 2012. No construction took place in 2012, prompting concerns that the commuter rail stop - not just the building - would be closed. On October 15, 2012, the state's Architectural Access Board granted the MBTA an extension until October 1, 2013 to make the station accessible. The project, which included adding mini-high platforms and improving handicapped access to the building, was originally expected to begin in the spring of 2013 and to be completed that fall at a cost of $1.2 million. In May 2013, the MBTA issued a request for bids for the then-$2.6 million project, with work to start in August. Notice to Proceed was given to the chosen contractor on September 5, 2013, with work to be completed by February 2014. Noise testing begun in April 2014, followed by ongoing construction of mini-high platforms as well as improvements to the building and parking lot. The accessible parking spots and the building retrofits were completed during May 2014. The mini-high platforms were opened on September 30, 2014. The stairs to the platforms were closed on January 29, 2023.

Other Sharon stations

A station was located in Sharon Heights near Garden Street, about a mile south of Sharon proper. It was closed sometime in the mid-20th century, at least a decade before the 1973 MBTA takeover. In the late 1800s, a short-lived half-mile branch line led from Sharon Heights to a summer-only station at Lake Massapoag. The branch was also used to haul ice from the lake to surrounding locales. The remnants of the wye to the branch are still visible from passing trains on the main line.

References

External links

{{commons category
MBTA - Sharon

Depot Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Norfolk County, Massachusetts Sharon, Massachusetts Stations on the Northeast Corridor Former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1835 1835 establishments in Massachusetts