Arlington Centre station


Arlington Centre was a regional rail station in Arlington, Massachusetts. Located in downtown Arlington, it served the Lexington Branch. It was closed in January 1977 when service on the Lexington Branch was suspended.

History

The Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad opened from West Cambridge to Lexington on September 1, 1846. Arlington Centre station was located near the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Mystic Street in Arlington.
On April 18, 1958, the Boston and Maine Railroad received permission from the Public Utilities Commission to drastically curtail its suburban commuter service, including abandoning branches, closing stations, and cutting trains. Among the approved cuts was the closure of the Lexington Branch's four stations in Arlington, as Arlington was part of the funding district of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which provided parallel bus service on Massachusetts Avenue. The four stations were closed on May 16, 1958.
Due to community input, Arlington Centre station was reopened in October 1965, followed by Lake Street in March 1968. On a typical day, no more than 7 to 12 passengers used Arlington Centre station; although taking the Lexington Branch allowed one to reach downtown faster than if one had used the 77 bus and the Red Line, it had only one round trip per day and was substantially more expensive.
In January 1977, following a major snowstorm which temporarily shut down the Lexington Branch, stranding a train at Bedford Depot, the MBTA announced that commuter rail service on the branch would not be restored. In the 1980s, the MBTA planned to extend the Red Line through Arlington and Lexington to Route 128 along the former path of the Lexington Branch as part of the Northwest Extension, including renewed service to Arlington Centre station, but fierce opposition from Arlington residents scuttled this plan, and the Northwest Extension was cut short to Alewife in northwestern Cambridge.
The only surviving stations of the Lexington Branch are Bedford Depot and Lexington; Arlington Centre was demolished at some point following the branch's closure.