Bridgewater station (MBTA)

Bridgewater
Bridgewater
	Bridgewater station in 2012
General information
Location	80 Burrill Avenue; Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Coordinates	41°59′07″N 70°57′57″W / 41.9853°N 70.9658°W
Line(s)	Middleborough Main Line
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Construction
Parking	497 spaces (10 accessible)
Bicycle facilities	24 spaces
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	6
History
Opened	September 29, 1997
Passengers
2018	600 (weekday average boardings)
Services
Former services
Future services
Location
Location

Bridgewater station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, served by the Middleborough/Lakeville Line. It is located on the east end of the Bridgewater State University campus along the Middleborough Main Line.

History

The final section of the Fall River Railroad opened between North Bridgewater and Middleborough opened on December 21, 1846, completing the line between South Braintree and Fall River.^[3]^[4] The railroad merged into the Old Colony and Fall River Railroad in 1854; it became the Old Colony and Newport Railroad in 1863, then the Old Colony Railroad in 1872. The line was originally single track; the second track was extended from Campello to Bridgewater in 1884.^[5]

The original station was replaced by the Old Colony with a wooden structure with a hip roof.^[6] The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad acquired the Old Colony in 1893. The next year, it constructed a new station designed by New York architect Bradford Gilbert. The Romanesque structure was built from Milford pink granite with brownstone trim.^[6]

Old Colony Division passenger service ended on June 30, 1959. The Cape Cod & Hyannis Railroad stopped at Bridgewater from 1984 to 1988.^[7]^[8] The modern station opened on September 29, 1997, along with the rest of the Middleborough/Lakeville and Plymouth/Kingston Lines.^[1] It is located southeast of downtown Bridgewater at the Bridgewater State University campus. The former station building has been repurposed as a Burger King restaurant.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
^ Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
^ "Rail Road". Fall River Monitor. December 26, 1846. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Fall River Railroad (December 24, 1846). "New Notice". Herald of the Times. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Twenty-First Annual Report of the Old Colony Railroad Co. to the Stockholders. Old Colony Railroad Company. November 1884. p. 8.
^ ^a ^b ^c Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. pp. 134–135. ISBN 9780942147087.
^ Pillsbury, Fred (June 30, 1984). "Passenger train service to Cape Cod begins anew: Hyannis, Falmouth—All aboard!". The Boston Globe. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Cape Cod & Hyannis Railroad Spring Schedule, Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad, May 27, 1988 – via Wikimedia Commons