North Scituate (MBTA station)

NORTH SCITUATE
Outbound train at North Scituate station
Location	777 Country Way Scituate, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°13′10.92″N 70°47′15.72″W / 42.2197000°N 70.7877000°WCoordinates: 42°13′10.92″N 70°47′15.72″W / 42.2197000°N 70.7877000°W
Line(s)	Greenbush Line
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Construction
Parking	281 spaces ($4.00 fee) 12 accessible spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	5
History
Opened	October 31, 2007
Closed	1959
Traffic
Passengers (2009 daily)	532[1]
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Cohasset toward South Station Greenbush Line Greenbush Terminus

North Scituate is a passenger rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Greenbush Line, located in the North Scituate village of Scituate, Massachusetts. The station, located at 777 Country Way, is the primary station for Scituate, while nearby Greenbush primarily serves as a park-and-ride for adjacent communities. With 532 inbound riders on an average weekday, North Scituate is the second-busiest station on the line.^[1] North Scituate is 27.2 miles (43.8 km) from South Station; a one-way ride is around 52 minutes.^[1] Like the other stations on the Greenbush Line, North Scituate consists of a single full-length high-level platform which provides handicapped-accessible boarding to the line's single track.

History

North Scituate station on a 1912 postcard

1909-built station in 2013

South Shore Railroad

The modern Greenbush Line was originally built as the South Shore Railroad, which opened to Cohasset in 1849. The Old Colony-backed Duxbury and Cohasset Railroad, chartered in 1867, which opened from Cohasset to Duxbury in 1871, including a stop at North Scituate.^[2] Three other stations were, at various times, located in Scituate: Egypt station at Captain Pierce Road, Scituate (also called Scituate Harbor) at First Parish Road, and Greenbush at Driftway.^[3][4] After financial troubles in the 1870s, the Duxbury and Cohasset was joined with the South Shore under the fold of the Old Colony Railroad in 1877. The Old Colony was leased to the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad in 1893.

New Haven Railroad

Ridership on the Greenbush Line diminished in the 1930s due to increased competition from automobiles. The line enjoyed a brief uptick in traffic in World War II with the construction of the Hingham Naval Ammunition Depot and the Hingham Naval Ammunition Depot Annex. The number of daily trips was increased from 4 to 8 after World War II under Frederick C. Dumaine, Jr., and modern diesel trains including Budd RDCs were introduced in the 1950s. However, the New Haven Railroad continued to lose money on the service, and after Dumaine was ousted the railroad announced all trains would cease running in 1958. Only an emergency subsidy by the state kept trains running until June 30, 1959 when the Southeast Expressway opened and all passenger train service ended.^[5] The former Spanish-style station, built in 1908-09, is located on Gannett Road near the modern station. It has been converted for commercial use.^[6]

MBTA era

Calls for the former Old Colony lines to be reactivated began in the 1980s; the Plymouth/Kingston Line and Middleborough/Lakeville Line were reopened in 1997. After much controversy surrounding various aspects of the $534 million project, construction of the Greenbush Line was completed in mid-2007.

The Greenbush line and North Scituate station were opened for full service on October 31, 2007 after a ceremonial train the previous day.^[7]

References

1. "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2010. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
2. Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. pp. 316–317. ISBN 0942147022.
3. United States Geological Survey (1941). "Cohasset, MA Quadrangle". USGS 7.5 Minute Series. University of New Hampshire. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
4. United States Geological Survey (1940). "Scituate, MA Quadrangle". USGS 7.5 Minute Series. University of New Hampshire. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
5. Thomas J. Humphrey. "History of the Greenbush Rail Line". WATD-FM. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
6. Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. pp. 206–207. ISBN 9780942147087.
7. Belcher, Jonathan (12 November 2012). "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit. Retrieved 3 January 2013.

External links

• MBTA - North Scituate
• Greenbush Line schedule
• Station from Google Maps Street View