Foxboro station
Foxboro station, also known as Gillette Stadium station, is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Foxborough, Massachusetts. It was originally used by the Franklin and Providence/Stoughton lines only for special events at nearby Gillette Stadium, primarily New England Patriots games, but now has weekday service on the Franklin Line on a pilot basis to test demand. It lies on a freight line between Mansfield and Framingham, known as the Framingham Secondary. History. The line was part of the Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad, Old Colony Railroad, New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, Penn Central , and, finally, Conrail, until 1999, when it passed to CSX. The line connects to the MBTA's Franklin Line at and the Providence/Stoughton Line at . Special trains were operated to the opening of the Bay State Raceway in 1948. Trains come from Boston's South Station via the Franklin Line and from in Providence, Rhode Island via the Providence/Stoughton Line. (The latter trains originated at in Warwick, Rhode Island from 2012 to 2018). Franklin Line trains make stops at and . Providence/Stoughton Line trains make stops at , , and . The service started with the opening of Foxboro Stadium in  August 1971, though it was later discontinued. Boston–Foxboro service via the Franklin Line resumed in 1986. In 1989, it was moved to the Providence/Stoughton Line, with a reverse move at Mansfield and intermediate stops at Back Bay, (dropped by 1993), , , , and Mansfield. Providence service resumed in 1995; Boston service was shifted back to the Franklin Line, with stops at Dedham Corporate Center and . The Norwood Central stop was dropped in 2011. By 2005, ridership per event averaged 1,567. The station has a single side platform serving the line's main track, with a mini-high section for accessibility ; a passing siding allows freight trains to pass stopped passenger trains at the station. Weekday service. In September 2010, the MBTA completed a study to determine the feasibility of extending full-time commuter rail service to Foxboro via the Franklin Line. The study looked at extending some Fairmount Line service to Foxboro, running shuttle trains from Foxboro to Walpole, or a combination of both. No determination was made as to if or when this service would begin. A proposal for the MBTA to purchase the track and restore full service met with some local opposition, although the state purchased the  line in June 2015. Passenger service gained new momentum when Robert Kraft, the owner of Gillette Stadium, agreed to help subsidize the costs of a pilot program, up to $200,000/year. In August 2017, the MBTA Fiscal Board approved an 11-month pilot program to test commuter rail service to Foxborough, with service planned to begin sometime in late 2018 or early 2019. In October 2017, the MBTA indicated that service would begin on May 20, 2019. Service during the trial period will consist of seven daily round trips - three during the morning peak period, three in the evening  peak, and one midday. The launch date was delayed again, with regular service ultimately starting on October 21, 2019. By December 2019, daily boardings at Foxboro averaged 70 - one-third of the projected ridership. On November 2, 2020, the pilot was suspended with an expected resumption in Spring 2021 due to reduced ridership as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Foxboro service was not included in the Spring 2021 schedules for the Fairmount and Franklin lines when announced on March 19, 2021.