Lowell Line

Infobox rail line
name = Lowell Line


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type = Commuter rail
system = MBTA Commuter Rail
status =
locale = Northeastern Massachusetts
start = Lowell
end = North Station
stations = 9
routes =
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close =
owner = MBTA
operator = MBCR
character = Elevated and surface-level
stock =
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gauge = RailGauge|sg
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The Lowell Line is a railroad line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running north from Boston to Lowell, Massachusetts. Originally built as the Boston and Lowell Railroad, and later operated as part of the Boston and Maine Railroad's Southern Division, the line was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in Massachusetts.

History

Boston and Maine passenger service to Boston on the line was shortened from Nashua, New Hampshire to Lowell in 1967. [MBTA-MBCR contract of February 19, 2003. Exhibit 18, p. 5.]

In 1973 the MBTA bought the Lowell line, along with the Haverhill and all other local Greater Boston passenger lines. Along with the sale, the B&M contracted to run the passenger service on the Lowell line for the MBTA. After bankruptcy, The B&M continued to run and fulfill its Commuter Rail contract under the protection of the United States Bankruptcy Court, in the hopes that a reorganization could make it profitable again. It emerged from the court's protection when newly-formed Guilford Transportation Industries (GTI) bought it in 1983.

When GTI bought the B&M, commuter rail service was in jeopardy. The MBTA had owned the trains and the tracks since 1973, but it had outsourced the operation to the B&M. When GTI bought the B&M in 1983, it had to honor the B&M contract, but GTI management was very much against passenger rail,Fact|date=April 2008 and, in 1986, as soon as the contract expired, they let the job go to Amtrak, which operated the entire commuter rail system. (See MBTA Commuter Rail for later systemwide operational history.)

As of 2007, there is a current debate over whether or not to expand the Lowell line to Nashua, New Hampshire and include stations in North Chelmsford and Tyngsborough en route, for the sake of commuters in those towns.

Accessibility

North Station is wheelchair accessible, as are Anderson RTC and stations north of there. See also MBTA accessibility.

Station listing

Operating stations are shaded in purple.

External links

* [http://www.mbta.com/traveling_t/schedules_commuter_linedetail.asp?line=lowell MBTA - The Lowell Line]

References

* [http://members.aol.com/eddanamta/busfiles/contents.pdf Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district] (PDF)
* [http://www.earlpleasants.com/search_1.asp Railroad History Database]
* Mileposts from [http://www.bostonmontrealhsr.org/documents/Final_Repor_%20Boston-Montreal_HSR-Phase1.pdf Boston to Montreal High-Speed Rail Planning and Feasibility Study Phase I Final Report] and [http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/Downloads/Default.asp?page=downloaddbf.asp FRA Highway-Rail Crossing Inventory Files]