page_title: Fitchburg Cutoff
section_title: Railroad history
hierarchical_section_title: Fitchburg Cutoff / History / Railroad history
caption_attribution_description: English: 1907 postcard of Somerville Junction station
context_page_description: The Fitchburg Cutoff was a rail line running 2.8 miles from Brighton Street in Belmont, Massachusetts to Somerville Junction in Somerville, Massachusetts. It was constructed in two segments in 1870 and 1881; passenger service lasted until 1927. Freight service ended in 1979–80 to allow construction of the Red Line Northwest Extension; the line was abandoned in three sections in 1979, 1983, and 2007.
  All of the right-of-way, except a short section near Alewife station, has been reused for three connecting rail trails: the Fitchburg Cutoff Path from Brighton Street to Alewife station, the Alewife Linear Park from Alewife to Massachusetts Avenue, and the Somerville Community Path east of Massachusetts Avenue. The paths are part of the Mass Central Rail Trail.
context_section_description: The Freight Cutoff linked the Fitchburg Railroad main line (now the MBTA Fitchburg Line) with the Boston and Lowell Railroad (B&L) main line (now the MBTA Lowell Line). It ran east from the Fitchburg Line near Brighton Street (Hills Crossing station) in Belmont, passed through Davis Square (West Somerville) and Somerville Highlands, and connected with the Lowell Line at Somerville Junction. The section east of Clifton Street was built by the B&L in 1870 to connect the newly acquired Lexington and Arlington Railroad (Lexington Branch) to its mainline. Stations were located at North Cambridge [Junction] (North Avenue), West Somerville (Elm Street), Willow Avenue, and Somerville Highlands (at Cedar Street). The latter two were combined as Somerville Highlands (at Highland Road) around 1887. 
  The western section was built in 1881 by the Central Massachusetts Railroad (which paralleled the Fitchburg Railroad west of Brighton Street) to connect to the B&L; it had no stations between Hills Crossing and North Cambridge. In 1926–27, the B&M built two new sections of track; these allowed the Lexington Branch and the Central Massachusetts Railroad to use the Fitchburg mainline east of Alewife Brook Parkway. On April 24, 1927, passenger service was rerouted over the rebuilt line; the Fitchburg Cutoff (Brighton Street to Somerville Junction) became freight-only, with North Cambridge, West Somerville, and Somervile Highlands stations closed.
  All of the cutoff except a short industrial section at the east end was abandoned in 1979 and 1983 to allow for construction of the Red Line Northwest Extension, which runs under the cutoff from Davis Square to east of Alewife station. The short eastern segment was abandoned in 2007.
caption: Somerville Junction station was located near where the Fitchburg Cutoff met the Lowell mainline
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