South Acton (MBTA station)

SOUTH ACTON
The rebuilt station near completion in November 2015
Location	10 Central Street Acton, MA, 01720
Coordinates	42°27′41″N 71°27′25″W / 42.461428°N 71.456881°W / 42.461428; -71.456881Coordinates: 42°27′41″N 71°27′25″W / 42.461428°N 71.456881°W / 42.461428; -71.456881
Owned by	MBTA (station) Town of Acton (parking lot)
Line(s)	Fitchburg Line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Parking	287 spaces: 170 resident sticker spaces 107 open spaces ($2.50 fee) 6 accessible spaces
Bicycle facilities	44 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	6
History
Opened	October 1, 1844
Rebuilt	1980s December 19, 2015
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	902 (weekday inbound average)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Littleton/Route 495 toward Wachusett Fitchburg Line West Concord toward North Station

South Acton is a passenger rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line, in Acton, Massachusetts off Route 27 near Route 2. It is the busiest station on the Fitchburg line, averaging 902 weekday passenger boardings and thus generating 15% of the line's traffic. It serves as a park and ride station for Acton and other suburbs of Boston, with a 287-space parking lot owned by the town.

There has been a station on the Fitchburg mainline at the South Acton site since 1844; until 1958 it also served a branch line to Maynard, Massachusetts which in earlier years had extended through Hudson, Massachusetts to Marlborough, Massachusetts. South Acton has had continuous Boston commuter service since its inception except for five months in 1965 during the transition from fully private railroad operations to state subsidy.

As part of a $277 million project upgrading the Fitchburg Line, South Acton station has been completely rebuilt with two handicapped-accessible high-level platforms connected with an overhead pedestrian bridge, as well as a drop-off lane off Maple Street. The work began in 2012 and the new station opened on December 19, 2015.

The Fitchburg Railroad began serving the town with a stop, located off of School Street east of Main Street, when it reached the town on October 1, 1844. The railroad completed the first station in 1845 and, when the new station was built in 1892, the old station was moved to Jones Farm and used as a fire station until 1927. The new South Acton Station served the Boston & Maine Railroad until the company sold the building in the early 1970s after it exited the passenger transportation business. This station burned in 1984 and was torn down.

South Acton served as a station stop for both the Fitchburg Branch and Marlborough Branch of the B&M. The Marlborough Branch split off from the Fitchburg Railroad west of the station. The station also maintained a two-stall round house, a freight house, and a turntable, located off the Marlborough Branch. Marlborough Branch passenger service ended in 1939, though freight service continued on the line until around 1970. The stub of the branch at South Acton was used as a siding to turn RDC trains until its abandonment in 1979. The right-of-way has since been reused for the Assabet River Rail Trail on its Hudson and Marlborough section. In 2018 rail trail construction will be completed on a 3.4 mile section starting at train station and extending southeast through Maynard to the Maynard/Stow border.