Wilmington 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

Wilmington, Massachusetts Wilmington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population was 23,349 at the 2020 United States census. History Wilmington was first settled in 1665 and was officially incorporated in 1730, from parts of Woburn, Readi ...

served by the

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 ...

. It is located near the intersection of Main Street (Routes 38/ 129) and Church Street ( Route 62) in Wilmington's town center. 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.e ...

, with mini-high platforms serving both tracks.

Station layout and history

Interlocking south of Wilmington station, May 2016

The

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 ...

originally had no intermediate stations, but Wilmington petitioned for a stop as early as 1836. An early station building was constructed either for the

Andover and Wilmington 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 ...

in 1835 or 1836, or for the B&L and B&M a decade later. It was replaced by a small wooden structure around 1887. Both structures are still extant; the earlier structure was moved east on Church Street in the 1890s and reused as a house. The newer structure remains next to the tracks; it was converted to a pizza restaurant by 1977. The platforms are staggered; the southbound platform is entirely to the north of the Route 62 overpass, while over half of the northbound platform is south of the bridge. A pedestrian crossing between the two platforms is located just north of the bridge; until a path from an adjacent apartment complex opened in 2015, this was the only access to the southbound platform. The station formerly had a single small side platform and no MBTA parking lot. In 1998, the MBTA began planning a $5.2 million renovation which included longer

platforms and a 227-space parking lot. The project was completed in 2003 at a total cost of $13 million. 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 ...

, used by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

'' Downeaster'' trains and some

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 ...

express trains, connects with the Lowell Line at Wilmington station. The single-track branch splits from the northbound track just north of the platform. Southbound trains coming from the Wildcat Branch cannot reach the southbound platform; instead, they use the northbound platform. An interlocking south of the station allows these trains to switch onto the southbound track.

References

External links

MBTA - Wilmington

Station from Route 62 from Google Maps Street View
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Trains at Wilmington station, 1946
(at 20:16) Stations along Boston and Maine Railroad lines Buildings and structures in Wilmington, Massachusetts MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Railway stations in the United States opened in 1836