Belmont Center (MBTA station)

BELMONT CENTER
Belmont Center station building, now the Belmont Lions Club
Location	Common St & Concord Ave Belmont, MA 02478
Coordinates	42°23′45.3″N 71°10′34.3″W / 42.395917°N 71.176194°W / 42.395917; -71.176194
Line(s)	Fitchburg Line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	MBTA Bus: 74, 75, 72/75
Construction
Parking	no spaces
Bicycle facilities	8 spaces
Other information
Fare zone	1
History
Opened	1852,March 4, 1974
Closed	1958
Rebuilt	c. 1879, c. 1908
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	168 (weekday inbound average)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Waverley toward Wachusett Fitchburg Line Porter toward North Station
Belmont Railroad Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Show map of Massachusetts Show map of the US
Location	1 Common St Belmont, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°23′45″N 71°10′30″W / 42.39583°N 71.17500°W / 42.39583; -71.17500Coordinates: 42°23′45″N 71°10′30″W / 42.39583°N 71.17500°W / 42.39583; -71.17500
Built	1908
Architectural style	Bungalow/Craftsman
NRHP Reference #	98001443
Added to NRHP	December 4, 1998

Belmont Center is a commuter rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail's Fitchburg Line. It is located at the intersection of Common Street, Concord Avenue, and Leonard Street in Belmont, Massachusetts. The station is labeled Belmont on MBTA maps.

Wellington Hill station opened in 1852, with a former school building built the previous decade moved to the site for a depot. A two-story wooden depot was built around 1879; the old station was moved and used as a summer house and an art studio at the Underwood Estate nearby. It was given to the Belmont Historical Society in 1975, and moved to its present location across the street from the modern station in 1980.

To eliminate the busy grade crossing of Concord Avenue, the tracks through Belmont Center were raised in 1907. A massive two-story California Bungalow station was built from 365 tons of fieldstone quarried from Belmont Hill by a local farmer. All service to Belmont Center and nearby Waverley 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. Weekend service was discontinued at the two stops on January 30, 1981 as part of general cutbacks, but restored on December 6, 1993.

The 1908-built station building, which is now owned and occupied by the Belmont Lions Club, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

As part of budge cuts, in 2015, the MBTA was considering an option to shutter the current Belmont Station due to expenses related to costs for making Waverley station ADA-accessible. Plans to combine both stations have been outlined in previous studies as early as 2005. Such works as Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line Improvement Implementation Plan, released in September 2005 have considered this plan.

There are two low-level side platforms, the southern (inbound) one adjacent to the station building. The station has no high-level platforms or ramps and is therefore not handicapped accessible.

The station does not have a ticket office or ticket vending machines.