Fitchburg is a modestly-sized city in north-central Massachusetts. Located along the Nashua River, it is the namesake for the Commuter Rail line serving the city, and historically, the railroad company that served the northern bits of Central and Western Massachusetts. Now, let’s look at the station itself.
The station used to be the terminus of the line until 2016, when the 4.5 mile extension to the Wachusett park & ride opened. Even before this, it was the longest northside line, and the longest line on weekends (trains do not serve Wickford Junction on weekends). The setup is actually pretty simple: you have a siding and two through tracks for freight trains, with the station bearing a mini-high platform and a low-level section that goes a while. The platform is also curved, bears a sheltered area, has seating and wastebaskets, and yellow dot matrix signs. There is also a parking garage and a number of bus berths for MART buses. The MART building was also open when I came here, with a restroom, a decently-sized waiting area, a yellow dot matrix sign for the Commuter Rail, a cafe (that was closed), and even a ticketing office and a taxi office. Sadly, part of it was closed off due to an unfortunate incident, but it was nice and warm no less. Neato! It was also pretty impressive to see the seemingly giant rolling hills from here. There, however, IS a future for this station: a major stop on Northern Tier Rail! If this comes to be, it’d be one of several stops on a proposed state-funded train route between North Station and North Adams (via Greenfield and Fitchburg).
The good: It serves downtown Fitchburg! Furthermore, it’s accessible (unlike most of the Fitchburg Line), has an open waiting room on weekends, and has plenty of parking. Furthermore, if proposals come to fruition with Northern Tier Rail, this station will also become an Amtrak station! Neat!
The bad: I don’t have a lot of negatives to say. I guess the upper level of the garage being closed in winter? Why is it a mini-high and not full-length though? I genuinely don’t have anything to say bad.
Nearby points of interest: Fitchburg and the places MART can bring you! This IS their central hub, after all!
Transit connections:
MART (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, Boston Shuttle, Clinton/Worcester Shuttle, Wachusett Commuter Shuttle, FSU Shuttle, Intercity/MWCC Shuttle)
Commuter Rail (Fitchburg)
Overall, it’s a really good station, with a lot of connections and pretty much most of MART is accessible here. I genuinely don’t have a lot negative to say about it, and is something I genuinely expect from an intermodal transit center in a modestly-sized city.
Rating: 8/10
