Waverley station 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

Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It is a western suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, United States; and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town's population stood at 27,295 ...

. It serves 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 ...

. It is located below grade in Waverley Square in the triangle of Trapelo Road, Lexington Street, and Church Street in western Belmont.

History

The

Fitchburg Railroad The Fitchburg Railroad is a former railroad company, which built a railroad line across northern Massachusetts, United States, leading to and through the Hoosac Tunnel. The Fitchburg was leased to the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1900. The main li ...

opened through Belmont on December 20, 1843, but no station stop at Waverley Square existed until about 1860. Service on the

Central Massachusetts Railroad The Central Massachusetts Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. The eastern terminus of the line was at North Cambridge Junction where it split off from the Middlesex Central Branch of the Boston and Lowell Railroad in North Cambridge and ...

, which ran parallel to the Fitchburg, began in 1881. The two railroads had separate station buildings, both of which remained in use until somewhat after both railroads were consolidated under 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 ...

(B&M). The tracks originally ran through the square at grade, with level crossings of Trapelo Road and Lexington Street. In August 1951, the town approved an agreement with the state and the B&M for a $1.125 million state-funded project to lower the tracks to eliminate the crossings. The work was completed in 1952, at which timeCentral Mass Branch trains were moved from their parallel tracks onto the Fitchburg main. All service to Waverley and nearby Belmont Center station ended in 1958. Service to Belmont Center and Waverley resumed on March 4, 1974. The Central Mass Branch had been discontinued in 1971, so all service was on the South Acton (now Fitchburg) Line. The station building was gone by 1977. Weekend service was discontinued at the two stops on January 30, 1981 as part of general cutbacks, but restored on December 6, 1993. As part of budget cuts, in 2015, the MBTA was considering an option to shutter the current Waverley station and/or Belmont Station(s) due to expenses related to costs for making Waverley

ADA-accessible The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...

. Plans to combine both stations have been outlined in previous studies as early as 2005. Such works as the ''Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line Improvement Implementation Plan'', released in September 2005 have considered this plan. Other past proposals for altering the station, and in the process raising revenue have included building above the trench style station with a five-story mixed retail and residential development.

References

External links

MBTA – WaverleyStation from Lexington Street from Google Maps Street View
{{Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont, Massachusetts MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Railway stations in the United States opened in 1860