Waverley station is an

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 ...

station in

Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a western suburb of Boston and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, its population was 27,295, an increase of 10.4% from 2010. H ...

. It serves the

Fitchburg Line The Fitchburg Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system which runs from Boston's North Station to Wachusett station in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The line is along the tracks of the former Fitchburg Railroad, which was built across nort ...

. It is located below grade in Waverley Square in the triangle of Trapelo Road, Lexington Street, and Church Street in western Belmont.

History

The

Fitchburg Railroad The Fitchburg Railroad is a former railroad company, which built a railroad line across northern Massachusetts, United States, leading to and through the Hoosac Tunnel. The Fitchburg was leased to the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1900. The main l ...

opened through Belmont on December 20, 1843, but no station stop at Waverley Square existed until about 1860. Service on the

Massachusetts Central Railroad The Massachusetts Central Railroad is a short line railroad in western Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1975 to provide railroad transportation services on portions of the Boston & Maine Wheelwright Branch in and around their ...

which ran parallel to the Fitchburg, began in 1881, and operations continued under the successor

Central Massachusetts Railroad The Central Massachusetts Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. The eastern Train station#Terminus, terminus of the line was at North Cambridge Junction where it split off from the Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad, Middlesex Central B ...

by 1885. The two railroads had separate station buildings, both of which remained in use until somewhat after both railroads were consolidated under 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). The tracks originally ran through the square at grade, with level crossings of Trapelo Road and Lexington Street. In August 1951, the town approved an agreement with the state and the B&M for a $1.125 million state-funded project to lower the tracks to eliminate the crossings. The work was completed in 1952, at which time Central Mass Branch trains were moved from their parallel tracks onto the Fitchburg main. All service to Waverley and nearby

Belmont Center station Belmont Center station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Belmont, Massachusetts, USA. It serves the Fitchburg Line. It is situated at the intersection of Common Street, Concord Avenue, and Leonard Street adjacent to Belmont's town center. It ...

ended in 1958. Service to Belmont Center and Waverley resumed on March 4, 1974. The Central Mass Branch had been discontinued in 1971, so all service was on the South Acton (now Fitchburg) Line. The station building was gone by 1977. Weekend service was discontinued at the two stops on January 30, 1981 as part of general cutbacks, but restored on December 6, 1993. A 2004 MBTA proposal called for a five-story

air rights In real estate, air rights are the property interest in the "space" above the Earth's surface. Generally speaking, owning or renting land or a building includes the right to use and build in the space above the land without interference by oth ...

building above the station. The 2005 ''Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line Improvement Implementation Plan'' called for consolidating Waverley and Belmont stations into a single station between the locations. In 2015, the MBTA considered closing either Waverley or Belmont station due to the cost of making Waverley station accessible. In 2024, the MBTA began updating the 2014-completed plans for making the station accessible. The updated plans will consider -long platforms as well as standard platforms.

References

External links

MBTA – Waverley
{{Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont, Massachusetts MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Railway stations in the United States opened in 1860 Former Boston and Maine Railroad stations Railway stations in the United States closed in 1958