Needham Heights station

NEEDHAM HEIGHTS
Needham Heights station in March 2016
Location	95 West Street Needham, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°17′36″N 71°14′10″W / 42.2934°N 71.2360°W / 42.2934; -71.2360Coordinates: 42°17′36″N 71°14′10″W / 42.2934°N 71.2360°W / 42.2934; -71.2360
Owned by	MBTA
Line(s)	Needham Line
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Connections	MBTA Bus: 59
Construction
Parking	71 spaces (permit only) 4 accessible spaces
Bicycle facilities	6
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	2
History
Opened	c. 1860
Closed	October 13, 1979–October 19, 1987
Rebuilt	1980s
Previous names	Highlandville
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	1,104 (weekday boardings)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Terminus Needham Line Needham Center toward South Station

Needham Heights station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Needham, Massachusetts. It is the terminus of the Needham Line, and serves the Needham Heights neighborhood. It opened around 1860 as an infill station on the New York and Boston Railroad. The station is fully handicapped accessible.

On June 1, 1853, the Charles River Branch Railroad was extended from Newton Upper Falls into Needham as the first stage of a line to Dover and beyond. The railroad was not able to follow its original plan to go through the East Village, Needham's historical center, because one landowner refused to sell. Instead, it was routed to Great Plain station in Great Plain Village further to the east. A station at Highlandville was added around 1860, by which time the line was under control of the New York and Boston Railroad.

The line became part of the New Haven Railroad's Midland Division in 1898. Around 1900, a movement began to change the name of the Highlandville neighborhood. Needham Highlands was rejected for the similarity to Newton Highlands; on May 28, 1907, the post office was renamed as Needham Heights. The station was also changed to Needham Heights by November 1907.

In 1906, the New Haven opened the Needham Cutoff, a faster route to Boston that avoided the rival Boston and Albany Railroad's Highland Branch tracks. The line through Needham was thus downgraded from an intercity route to a branch line. Loop service jointly run by the B&A and the New Haven operated over the Cutoff and the Highland Branch via Needham from 1911 to 1914; after that, most Needham trains originated at Needham Heights. Service between Newton Highlands and Newton Upper Falls ended in 1927, and between Needham Heights and Newton Upper Falls in 1932, leaving Needham Heights as the terminus of the line.