page_title: West Natick station
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: West Natick station / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The demolished eastbound mini-high platform West Natick station awaiting replacement in May 2017
context_page_description: West Natick is a commuter rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Framingham/Worcester Line, located off West Central Street in Natick, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1982 as a park and ride station.
context_section_description: The Boston and Albany Railroad opened through Natick in September 1834. In the late 1800s, Walkerville station was briefly open at Speen Street, midway between Natick Center and the modern station site.
  On August 23, 1982, the MBTA opened West Natick station to ease demand at Natick and Framingham stations. The $500,000 station included a 200-space park and ride lot.  The station should have been built accessible (state accessibility laws date from the 1970s, long before the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act), but it was not due to a budget shortfall. Accessible mini-high sections were installed around 1993.
  In early 2016, the mini-high accessible platforms were closed because the folding platform edges were deteriorated, risking a dangerous collapse like one that happened at North Billerica station in 2015. The MBTA earmarked $4 million to replace them and brought a portable lift to the station to maintain accessibility. The mini-high platforms were demolished in March 2017; new composite platforms opened that November.
  The adjacent Boden Lane bridge was closed on October 31, 2019, after it was damaged by brush-clearing equipment. On November 5, MassDOT announced that the bridge would be permanently closed and replaced. The bridge was removed in December 2019; a temporary pedestrian span opened on January 27, 2020.
caption: The demolished inbound mini-high platform in May 2017
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot SX150 IS", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Picasa", "Image DateTime": "2017:05:25 18:27:29", "Image Artist": "Picasa", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "260", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4996", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6752", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "160", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity and Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:05:14 17:23:53", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:05:14 17:23:53", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "223/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "329/40", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4320", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3240", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "4320", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "3240", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "4848", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "160000/9", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1620000/91", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "85a8ee337652356233e8511fcdb7a482", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": ""}