Wachusett | |||||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||||
Location | 55 Authority Drive Fitchburg, Massachusetts | ||||||||||||
Coordinates | 42°33′12″N 71°50′52″W / 42.5534°N 71.8477°W | ||||||||||||
Line(s) | Pan Am Southern Freight Main Line | ||||||||||||
Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||||
Tracks | 3 (2 mainline plus 1 station siding) | ||||||||||||
Connections | MART: Wachusett Commuter Shuttle, 11 Wachusett Mountain shuttle (winter) | ||||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||||
Parking | 359 spaces ($3.00 fee) | ||||||||||||
Bicycle facilities | 10 spaces | ||||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||
Opened | September 30, 2016[1] | ||||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||||
2018 | 132 (weekday average boardings)[2] | ||||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||||
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Wachusett station is a commuter rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line. It is northwest of the intersection of Massachusetts Route 2 and Route 31 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. It serves as the northwestern terminus for Fitchburg Line trains. The opening of Wachusett extended service 4.5 miles (7.2 km) west from Fitchburg on the Pan Am Southern main line, lengthening the Fitchburg Line to 54 miles (87 km). The station was expected to draw 400 daily riders; by 2018, daily ridership was 132.
After years of planning and discussion, work on the station began with site preparation in December 2012. Construction began in mid-2013. The station opened for limited weekday service on September 30, 2016, to satisfy the terms of the federal grant that funded it; full service began on November 21, 2016. At 54 miles (87 km) from North Station, Wachusett is the outermost MBTA station in Massachusetts; only Wickford Junction in Rhode Island is farther from Boston.