West Gloucester station

West Gloucester station is an MBTA Commuter Rail on the Newburyport/Rockport Line, located off Massachusetts Route 133 (Essex Road) in the west part of Gloucester, Massachusetts.

West Gloucester
West Gloucester station in 2008
Location290 Essex Avenue, Gloucester, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°36′43″N 70°42′20″W
Owned byMBTA
Line(s)Gloucester Branch
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Connections CATA: Purple Line
Construction
Parking43 spaces ($2 per day)
1 accessible space
Bicycle facilitiesYes
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Fare zone7
Traffic
Passengers (2018)37 (weekday average boardings)[1]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Manchester
toward North Station
 Newburyport/​Rockport Line Gloucester
toward Rockport

History

When the Gloucester Branch Railroad opened in 1847, there were no stops except Manchester and Gloucester.[2] A number of infill stations were later added; West Gloucester station was open by 1872, and by 1884 had a small depot building on the south side of the track.[3][4]

West Gloucester station was closed on January 30, 1981 during severe budget cuts; 1977-opened Harbor station 1.1 miles (1.8 km) east remained open.[5][6] The line was temporarily closed on January 7, 1985 after a November 1984 fire destroyed the drawbridge between Salem and Beverly. When the line reopened on December 1, 1985, West Gloucester was reopened but Harbor remained closed.[5]

On April 29, 2020, service between West Gloucester and Rockport was indefinitely replaced by buses due to a failure of the old Gloucester Drawbridge.[7] That June, the MBTA indicated the closure would continue until the completion of the bridge replacement in mid-2021.[8]

References
  1. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  2. Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. p. 76. ISBN 9780685412947.
  3. "Gloucester". Atlas of Essex County, Massachusetts. D.G. Beers & Co. 1872 – via Ward Maps.
  4. "Plate 11". Atlas of The City of Gloucester and Town of Rockport. G.M. Hopkins & Co. 1884 – via Ward Maps.
  5. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit.
  6. "T changes start today". Boston Globe. February 1, 1981. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Rockport Line Service Changes". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. April 29, 2020. Archived from the original on May 1, 2020.
  8. "Newburyport/Rockport Trains between Rockport and West Gloucester Replaced with Shuttle Buses through Summer 2021" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. June 9, 2020.

Media related to West Gloucester station at Wikimedia Commons

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