West Roxbury is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the Needham Line. It is located on an embankment above Lagrange Street in the West Roxbury neighborhood. The station is

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. ...

with a short mini-high platform on the outbound end of the main platform.

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 ...

(B&P) opened a branch line from Forest Hills to Dedham (where it connected with the B&P's preexisting branch to Dedham via

Readville Readville is part of the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston. Readville's ZIP Code is 02136. It was called Dedham Low Plains from 1655 until it was renamed after the mill owner James Read in 1847. It was part of Dedham until 1867. It is served by ...

) via West Roxbury on June 3, 1850. South Street (

Roslindale Roslindale is a primarily residential neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, bordered by Jamaica Plain, Hyde Park, West Roxbury and Mattapan. It is served by an MBTA Commuter Rail line, several MBTA bus lines and the MBTA Orange Line in nearby J ...

), Central (

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

), West Roxbury, and Spring Street stations all opened with the branch. The

New Haven 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 ...

, successor to the B&P, opened the

Needham cutoff The Needham Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running west from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, and the town of Needham. The second-shortest line of the system at jus ...

on November 4, 1906 from West Roxbury to Needham Junction, allowing trains from the former

New York and New England Railroad The New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE) was a railroad connecting southern New York State with Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated under that name from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was ...

to reach Boston without needing to use the

Boston and Albany Railroad The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Pa ...

's Highland branch. Service to Dedham via West Roxbury ended in 1940, leaving West Roxbury an intermediate station on the commuter lines to Needham and West Medway. The entire Needham line was closed from 1979 to 1987 while the Southwest Corridor was reconstructed. During that time, most of the stations (including West Roxbury) were renovated for accessibility.

References

External links

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MBTA - West Roxbury
* Google Maps Street View
Lagrange Street entranceElgin Street entrance
MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Boston Former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1850