Durham–University of New Hampshire station, also known as Durham–UNH station or simply Durham station, is a passenger rail station in

Durham, New Hampshire Durham is a New England town, town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 15,490 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 14,638 at the 2010 census.United States Census BureauU.S. Census website 2010 ...

, served 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 intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's '' Downeaster'' line. The historic depot, which now houses the UNH Dairy Bar, is situated just west of downtown Durham on the campus of the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

(UNH). The station is owned by the university, but an adjacent parking area is managed by the town of Durham. On average, about 161 rail passengers board or detrain daily at Durham, making it the third-busiest

stop in New Hampshire.

Service

Durham is served by five ''Downeaster'' trains in each direction daily. Durham is approximately one hour by train from

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

and ninety minutes from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. UNH students and Durham residents comprise most of the riders, as the lack of parking available to the general public means most commuters drive to and park at

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

, the stations north and south respectively of Durham. The university operates both a free on-campus bus shuttle service, Campus Connector Shuttle, and Wildcat Transit, an off-campus service, serving the cities and towns of Dover,

Lee Lee may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lee'' (2007 film), Tamil-language sports action film * ''Lee'' (2017 film), Kannada-language action film * ''Lee'' (2023 film), biographical drama about Lee Miller, American photojournalist * ''L ...

, Madbury, Newmarket, Newington, and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. The bus services operate year-round but scale back outside of the academic year. There is a Wildcat Transit and UNH Campus Connector bus stop approximately from the platform on Main Street.

History

The

Boston and Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Railroad was a United States, U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. It was chartered in 1835, and became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the e ...

(B&M) began service to Durham in 1841, and by the end of the 19th century included 7 to 12 trains per day. The tracks through Durham originally followed a course slightly east of the current alignment, with a station at Main Street. On January 22, 1905, an express train derailed in downtown Durham, injuring 11 passengers and prompting concerns about future crashes in the downtown area. In 1912, prompted by the town and the need to add a second track, the railroad moved its tracks further west away from downtown. Edgewood Road is now built on the former right of way. The B&M disassembled the underused 1896-built East Lynn station in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest List of municipalities in Massachusetts, municipality in Massachusetts, United States, and the largest city in Essex County, Massachusetts, Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line ...

, and rebuilt it on the new alignment at Durham. In 1958, the B&M was approved to discontinue all its interstate passenger services. The station was sold by the B&M to UNH for $1 in 1960 and soon converted to an ice cream bar. On January 4, 1965, the railroad discontinued all service outside Massachusetts except for single round trips to and , the latter of which served Durham. On June 30, 1967, the Concord trip was cut back to and the Dover trip to , ending service to Durham. Regular passenger service returned with the opening of the '' Downeaster'' on December 14, 2001. The depot was maintained as a restaurant and renovated in 2007-2008 by the university with funding assistance from the

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

. It reopened on August 11, 2008, featuring an upgraded Dairy Bar (a restaurant operated by UNH Hospitality Services).

References

External links

UNH Dairy Bar
{{Amtrak New Hampshire stations Amtrak stations in New Hampshire Former Boston and Maine Railroad stations Transportation buildings and structures in Strafford County, New Hampshire Railway stations in the United States opened in 1912 University of New Hampshire buildings 1912 establishments in New Hampshire Railway stations in the United States at university and college campuses