Lynn (MBTA station)

CENTRAL SQUARE - LYNN
Lynn station on a rainy day in 2012
Location	325 Broad Street Lynn, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°27′46″N 70°56′45″W / 42.46280°N 70.94575°W / 42.46280; -70.94575Coordinates: 42°27′46″N 70°56′45″W / 42.46280°N 70.94575°W / 42.46280; -70.94575
Owned by	MBTA
Line(s)	Newburyport/Rockport Line
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	MBTA Bus: 426, 426W, 429, 435, 436, 439, 441, 442, 455, 456, 459,
Construction
Parking	965 spaces
Bicycle facilities	14 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	2
History
Opened	1838 (first depot)
Rebuilt	1848, 1872, 1895, 1952, January 21, 1992
Previous names	Central Square
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	662 (weekday inbound average)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station River Works toward North Station Newburyport/Rockport Line Swampscott toward Newburyport or Rockport

Lynn (signed as Central Square - Lynn) is a passenger rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Newburyport/Rockport Line in downtown Lynn, Massachusetts, located 11.5 route miles from North Station. The station consists of a single center island platform serving the two station tracks on an elevated grade that runs through the downtown area of Lynn. A large parking garage is integrated into the station structure. The present station, built in 1992, is the latest in a series of depots built on approximately the same Central Square site since 1838. A number of other stations have also been located on several different rail lines in Lynn.

Lynn is also a major bus transfer point serving 11 MBTA Bus routes in the North Shore region, including routes leading to Salem, Marblehead, Wonderland, and the Liberty Tree Mall as well as downtown Boston.

After the railroads from Boston to Lowell, Worcester, and Providence were chartered in 1830 and 1831, railroads to other surrounding cities including Newburyport and Portsmouth were proposed. The Eastern Railroad was chartered on April 14, 1836. Work began at East Boston in late 1836; it reached Lynn in the spring of 1837, but construction was slowed by the Panic of 1837 and did not reach Salem until 1838. Service from Salem to East Boston began on August 27, 1838, with fares half that of competing stagecoaches.

The line through Lynn was built at surface level. A number of stations have served Lynn, including a series of stations near the current location at Central Square as well as a number of other stations around the city. The first depot at the Central Square location, built in 1838, was a small wooden building.

On June 16, 1846, the stockholders authorized the sale of $450,000 of new stock to fund various branch lines plus new depots at Salem and Lynn. The 1838-built station was replaced in 1848 by a brick building with a 2-track train shed, modeled after the 1847-built station at Salem but smaller and lacking towers.