North Leominster (MBTA station)

NORTH LEOMINSTER
An inbound train at North Leominster in December 2013
Location	34 Nashua Street Leominster, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°32′21″N 71°44′21″W / 42.5392°N 71.7393°W / 42.5392; -71.7393Coordinates: 42°32′21″N 71°44′21″W / 42.5392°N 71.7393°W / 42.5392; -71.7393
Line(s)	Fitchburg Line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	MART: 1, 3
Construction
Parking	436 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	8
History
Opened	1845; January 13, 1980
Closed	January 18, 1965
Rebuilt	October 4, 2004 May 20, 2014
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	313 (weekday inbound average)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Fitchburg toward Wachusett Fitchburg Line Shirley toward North Station

North Leominster is a passenger rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line. It is located at 34 Nashua Street, east of Main Street in Leominster, Massachusetts. The station, which is fully handicapped accessible, has two side platforms to serve the line's two tracks. (The outbound platform is only able to be reached by crossing the tracks from the inbound platform). There is a small freight yard adjacent to the parking lot and mainline tracks on the south end of the inbound platform. A garage opened in 2014 to nearly triple parking capacity at the station, which serves as a park-and-ride stop for Route 2 and I-190, to a total of 436 spaces.

The Fitchburg Railroad opened through North Leominster in 1845. A station was opened in North Leominister just north of the Main Street crossing, near the modern station location. The depot building was located on the north (outbound) side of the tracks and remained intact until the 1970s.

Trains ran to North Leominster for over a century under the Fitchburg Railroad and the Boston and Maine Railroad until the latter cut all service on the line past West Concord on January 18, 1965 due to insufficient subsidies from the newly formed Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

On January 13, 1980, the MBTA restored service on 37 miles of the Fitchburg Line from West Concord to Gardner, including the stop at North Leominster. Short asphalt platforms were built behind a strip mall at the location of the former depot, with pedestrian access from Main Street but only 30 parking spaces.

In July 2003, the MBTA Board approved spending $950,000 in MBTA funds for a $3 million new station. On October 4, 2004, the new station was opened about 600 feet (180 m) southeast of the old station. It was built with short high-level platforms for handicapped accessibility, and a 150-space parking lot was built off Nashua Street adjacent to the station. The former station platforms are still extant.