Union Station is a railway station located at Washington Square in downtown

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, making it the second- most populous city in New England after ...

. It is the western terminus of the

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network i ...

's Framingham/Worcester

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are co ...

line, with inbound service to Boston, and a station along

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

's '' Lake Shore Limited'' passenger line. It also services Peter Pan and Greyhound intercity bus routes and acts as a hub for the local

Worcester Regional Transit Authority Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) is a public, non-profit organization charged with providing public transportation to the city of Worcester, Massachusetts and the surrounding towns. The WRTA was created in September 1974 under Chapter ...

(WRTA) bus service.

History

Detroit Publishing - Union Station, Worcester, Mass

The current station was built in 1911 by the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mi ...

along the Boston and Albany Railroad Main Line, during the heyday of railroading in the United States, replacing the previous 1875 station. As a union station, it also served the

Providence and Worcester Railroad The Providence and Worcester Railroad is a Class II railroad operating of tracks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, as well as New York via trackage rights. The company was founded in 1844 to build a railroad between Providence ...

(which was acquired by the

New York, New Haven and 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 ...

or 'New Haven'), the Norwich and Worcester Railroad (acquired by the New York and New England Railroad), the Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad and the

Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad The Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts that connected Worcester and Winchendon via Gardner. It was originally chartered as the Barre and Worcester Railroad in 1847, before being renamed the Boston, Barre and Gar ...

(which both became part of 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 ...

). Up to the late 1960s the New York Central ran the New England section of the '' Wolverine'' route to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

through southwestern Ontario and

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

and the ''

New England States The ''New England States'' was a passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad and its successor Penn Central over the Water Level Route (predominantly alongside rivers and lake shores) between Chicago and Boston. It was launched in ...

.'' The daytime New York City – Maine '' East Wind'' (B&M with the New Haven Railroad) ended in 1955. The overnight New York City – Maine '' State of Maine'' (B&M/NH) used the routing until October 29, 1960. The last pre-Amtrak service, on April 30, 1971, was an unnamed

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 th ...

successor to the ''New England States.'' Passenger service to Union Station lapsed between 1971 and 1975, and the abandoned station fell into disrepair. Union Station, Worcester, Mass

Subsequently, Union Station was acquired by the Worcester Redevelopment Authority and completely renovated at a cost of $32 million. The station was restored and renovated by Finegold Alexader Architects of Boston, and re-opened in July 2000. An intercity and local bus terminal, with five bus ports, was added at a cost of $5.2 million and opened in August 2006. Union Station's facilities include the Grand Hall, with original elliptical stained-glass ceilings, interior marble columns and mahogany wood trim, Luciano's Cotton Club, a 1920s gangster-themed restaurant, and the Union Station Parking Garage, which has 500 spaces and direct access to the station. The Cannabis Control Commission established their state headquarters in Union Station in 2019. There are proposals to extend more frequent passenger service west to Springfield.

Second platform

Union Station is accessible and has a single high-level side platform several cars long. It is the only station on the line (other than the three limited-service Newton stations) that can only be served by one train at a time – all other stations have two side platforms or an

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular ...

. This limits the number of daily trains that can serve Worcester, and causes frequent cascading delays. After years of discussion about adding a second platform and extending the side platform to full length, the MBTA approved a two-year, $4 million design contract in October 2018. Design reached 30% in August 2019. The -long island platform will have an accessible footbridge at its east end, and stairs and an elevator into a converted storage room to provide direct access from the station building. A crossover east of the station will also be built. The full length of the new platform will have a canopy. Construction is estimated to cost between $40 and $48 million. A temporary platform east of the I-290 overpass will be used while the west half of the new platform is constructed; the west half will then be used while the east half is built. In October 2020, $29.3 million in federal funding for the project was announced. A $44.4 million construction contract was approved on October 27, 2021. Notice to proceed was given on November 29, 2021, with completion expected in December 2023. The temporary platform was constructed over the weekend of March 12–13, 2022, and entered service on March 14. By December 2022, construction was 40% complete, with completion expected in February 2024.

Bus connections

Greyhound Bus Lines and Peter Pan Bus Lines operate intercity bus service from Worcester along major highways. OurBus service to New York City stops next to Union Station, on Franklin Street. In April 2012, the

broke ground on a new regional transit hub adjacent to historic Union Station. The cost was $14 million, with $10 million coming from the Federal Government and the rest coming from the state. The new hub opened in May 2013.http://www.therta.com/about/new-hub-construction/ WRTA, Transportation Hub The hub is served by routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 14, 15, 16, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, and 42.

References

External links

Worcester – MBTA
*
Worcester Union Station Improvements
– MBTA *Google Maps Street View
Front StreetHarding StreetI-290
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts, state=collapsed Amtrak stations in Massachusetts Bus stations in Massachusetts Worcester

Railway stations in the United States opened in 1911 Transit centers in the United States Transportation in Worcester, Massachusetts Towers in Massachusetts Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Worcester County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Worcester, Massachusetts Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts 1911 establishments in Massachusetts Skyscrapers in Worcester, Massachusetts Transportation buildings and structures in Worcester County, Massachusetts