Lowell station, officially the Charles A. Gallagher Transit Terminal, is an intermodal transit station in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...

. It is located off Thorndike Street ( Route 3A) near the end of the Lowell Connector south of downtown Lowell. The station is the northern terminal of the

MBTA Commuter Rail The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA's) transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track on 12 lines to 142 stations. It ...

Lowell Line, with three garages for

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...

purposes. The Robert B. Kennedy Bus Transfer Center is the hub for Lowell Regional Transit Authority local bus service. The station complex is accessible, with elevators connecting the station building to the rail platform.

History

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 ...

(B&L) opened to Lowell in 1835, with a station downtown near Merrimack Street. The

Nashua and Lowell Railroad The Nashua and Lowell Railroad (N&L) was a railroad built to connect Nashua, New Hampshire with the city of Lowell, Massachusetts. Chartered in June 1835, construction began in 1837 and the first train ran the next year. The Nashua and Lowell w ...

opened in 1838. Union Station was opened at Middlesex Street in 1848 so that through trains did not have to back into the downtown station. It was also used by the Lowell and Lawrence Railroad (opened 1848), Salem and Lowell Railroad (opened 1850), and Framingham and Lowell Railroad (opened 1870). All except the Framingham and Lowell were under control of the B&L from 1858 onwards. The original downtown station was replaced in 1853 by Merrimack Street station, which also held city offices and the Huntington Hall auditorium. The Lowell and Andover Railroad was opened by B&L rival

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) in 1874. It did connect with the B&L system, instead following the east bank of the Concord River to Central Street station, which was located at Central Street and Green Street. The B&M acquired the B&L in 1887 and constructed a new Union Station at the same site in 1894. B&M trains switched from Central Street station to Union Station the next year. Merrimack Street station was closed in 1905, leaving only Union Station. As well as local service, Union Station was also a stop for intercity service. Most of these trains were jointly operated by the B&M and connecting railroads. They included Boston–Montreal services (''

Alouette Alouette or alouettes may refer to: Music and literature * Alouette (song), "Alouette" (song), a French-language children's song * Alouette, a List of The King of Braves GaoGaiGar protagonists#Alouette, character in ''The King of Braves GaoGaiGar' ...

'', ''

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

'', ''New Englander'', ''Red Wing'') and New York City–Maine services ('' Bar Harbor Express'', ''Down Easter'', ''

East Wind An east wind is a wind that originates in the east and blows in a westward direction. This wind is referenced as symbolism in culture, mythology, poetry, and literature. In culture and mythology In Islam, the east wind Saba holds religious signi ...

'', ''

State of Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

'').''Official Guide of the Railways,'' August 1949, Boston and Maine section, Tables 1, 2, & 'Through Service to Maine' Montreal and Maine service ended by 1960, leaving just Boston–Lowell commuter service plus limited New Hampshire service (which ended in 1967). Union Station was demolished in the 1950s for a road construction project. A small station was constructed about to the south. The Charles A. Gallagher Transit Terminal opened in 1983 at that site. It included a brick station building, a parking garage, and a footbridge to an

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

. A second parking garage was added in the 1990s. In 2005, the Robert B. Kennedy Bus Transfer Center opened at the Gallagher Terminal as a new hub for all LRTA bus routes. A third parking garage located over the tracks opened around that time.

References

External links

{{commons category-inline
MBTA – Lowell
1983 establishments in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Lowell, Massachusetts Bus stations in Middlesex County, Massachusetts MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Railway stations in the United States opened in 1983 Former Boston and Maine Railroad stations Transportation in Lowell, Massachusetts Former Old Colony Railroad stations