MBTA Commuter Rail

North Station Notes

North Station in Boston serves the following MBTA Commuter Rail lines:

• Fitchburg
• Lowell
• Haverhill
• Rockport
• Newburyport

In the future, AMTRAK service to/from Portland, ME will also terminate at North Station. North Station is physically isolated from the rest of the Northeast Corridor. The only connection is the "grand junction," which connects the south side via a single track that crosses the Charles River near Boston University, then proceeds at grade level through Cambridge (crossing Massachusetts Avenue near MIT) and Somerville to the new Commuter Rail Maintenance Facility formerly known as the Boston Engine Terminal. A long-term goal is to join North and South Stations via the "North-South Rail Link" some time in the future. There are preliminary designs, but no funding has been identified, and thus there is no schedule for construction.

North Station has space for twelve tracks, although only eight are active; tracks are numbered sequentially from east to west, with island platforms between 1&2, 3&4, 5&5, 7&8, 9&10, and 11&12. Two (tracks 11 and 12) are isolated from the four main line rails exiting the station, and are for future expansion. This will require installing lead tracks through what is currently a parking lot for the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. The island platform between 11&12 is used for AMTRAK/MBTA employees to access trailers that serve as offices/lounges, which sit on and near the rights-of-way for these tracks. Two others (tracks 1 and 10) are temporarily out-of-service for "Big Dig" construction.

The waiting room for North Station passengers is small, and extremely crowded during rush hours. Pedestrian entrances are located at the east and west ends of the waiting room; in the center are fourt ticket windows, an information window, and timetable racks. At the easterly end are a McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts. A hallway off the east end of the waiting room leads to a Boston Bruins Pro Shop, Fleet Center ticket windows, parking cashiers, and (small) public restrooms. The Fleet Center, Boston's replacement for the Boston Garden, rests on top of North Station. Visitor entrances for the Fleet Center are physically located in the North Station waiting room, which makes the already overcrowded situtation worse when events are in progress. At times, it can be dangerously crowded, and commuters have often missed trains because they could not get through the crowds waitng for the Fleet Center gates to open.