page_title: Framingham station
section_title: MBTA era
hierarchical_section_title: Framingham station / History / MBTA era
caption_attribution_description: An MBTA train, headed by EMD F40PH locomotive #1006, at Framingham Railroad Station in 1977
context_page_description: Framingham is a historic Boston and Albany Railroad station located in downtown Framingham, Massachusetts. Designed by noted American architect H. H. Richardson, it was one of the last of the railroad stations he designed in the northeastern United States to be built. The station, built in 1884–85, served as a major stop on the B&A Main Line as well as a hub for branch lines to Milford, Mansfield, Fitchburg, and Lowell. After years of deterioration, the station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 as the Framingham Railroad Station, and restored a decade later.
  In 2001, MBTA Framingham/Worcester Line and Amtrak operations were shifted to a new set of platforms nearby, which have high-level sections for handicapped-accessible boarding and a footbridge for crossing the tracks. This new station is among the busiest on the MBTA system, with 41 daily MBTA and 2 Amtrak trains on weekdays. The H. H. Richardson-designed station building remains largely intact and is currently used as a restaurant.
context_section_description: In January 1960, the New York Central planned to end all service on the line, due to the opening of the Green Line D branch to Riverside in July 1959.  However, that April, following public outcry over the planned discontinuation of service, the railroad was ordered to continue limited service, leaving Framingham with 8 daily round trips.  When the extension of the Massachusetts Turnpike to downtown Boston began in 1961, the third and fourth tracks were removed.  The NYC merged into Penn Central in 1968; by 1969, Framingham saw just 4 daily round trips.
  The MBTA began subsidizing service as far as Framingham in January 1973; the last Worcester round trip ended on October 27, 1975, leaving Framingham as the terminus of the line.  The modern Amtrak Lake Shore Limited was established 4 days later, and has provided intercity service via Framingham ever since.  From 1996 until their 2004 discontinuation, Amtrak Inland Route trains also stopped at Framingham.
  By the 1970s, the station had fallen into disrepair; part of the roof collapsed in 1978.  On January 17, 1975, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Framingham Railroad Station.  The building was restored in 1985, and has been occupied by various restaurants since.  The original interior is no longer extant, but the exterior is mostly complete.  The small baggage office east of the station building has been converted into a bank ATM.
  When the Needham Line was closed in October 1979 for Southwest Corridor construction, service on the Framingham line was increased considerably as partial compensation.  By April 1984, the MBTA operated 12.5 daily round trips from Framingham.  Service was restored to Worcester on September 26, 1994 as mitigation for delays in reopening the Old Colony Lines (the first two of which finally opened in September 1997) – the first time in 19 years that commuter rail service extended beyond Framingham.
caption: An MBTA train at Framingham in 1977
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