Mishawum (MBTA station)

MISHAWUM
Mishawum station viewed from the inbound side
Location	250 Mishawum Road Woburn, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°30′15″N 71°08′15″W / 42.5043°N 71.1376°W / 42.5043; -71.1376Coordinates: 42°30′15″N 71°08′15″W / 42.5043°N 71.1376°W / 42.5043; -71.1376
Line(s)	Lowell Line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Disabled access	No (formerly 2 mini-high level platforms)
Other information
Fare zone	2
History
Opened	September 24, 1984
Rebuilt	2008-2010
Previous names	North Woburn Mishawum Park Mishawum Park-128 Mishawum/128
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	42 (weekday inbound average)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Winchester Center toward North Station Lowell Line limited service Anderson/Woburn toward Lowell

Mishawum is a passenger rail station on MBTA Commuter Rail Lowell Line, located on Mishawum Road north of downtown Woburn, Massachusetts. Mishawum opened in 1984 at the site of a former station of the same name. Until Anderson RTC opened in 2001, Mishawum served as a park-and-ride station for Route 128 (I-95) and I-93. It is now a limited-service flag stop intended for those reverse commuting to the adjacent office park, though proposals have been made to return it to full-time service.

With just 42 inbound boardings on an average weekday in 2013, Mishawum is one of the least busy stations on the commuter rail system. Only Silver Hill, Plymouth, and Prides Crossing had fewer boardings. Mishawum is a weekday-only station; weekend trains do not stop.

When the Boston and Lowell Railroad opened in 1835, passenger service operated express between its two endpoints. Over the next several decades, a number of local stops were opened - often several in each town. In addition to several stations on the Woburn Loop, by the late 1800s, there were three mainline stops in Woburn: Montvale at Montvale Avenue, Walnut Hill at Salem Street, North Woburn at what was then known as Middle Street in the village of New Boston, and South Wilmington at New Boston Street. By 1890, both the road and the station were known as Mishawum, after the native name for what is now Charlestown.

The station was located in a less-dense area between the town centers of Woburn, Stoneham, and Reading, each of which was served by its own downtown station. As wooden railway cars gave way to heavier stainless steel, trains accelerated more slowly, pushing railroads to concentrate ridership onto a smaller number of stations. Due to low ridership, Mishawum was discontinued sometime in the mid-20th century, followed by Montvale, Walnut Hill, and other local stops in Billerica and Winchester in 1965.