Littleton (MBTA station)

LITTLETON / RTE 495
A train at the newly rebuilt station in July 2013
Location	Foster Street at Grimes Lane Littleton, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°31′11″N 71°30′10″W / 42.51967°N 71.50264°W / 42.51967; -71.50264Coordinates: 42°31′11″N 71°30′10″W / 42.51967°N 71.50264°W / 42.51967; -71.50264
Line(s)	Fitchburg Line
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Parking	194 spaces ($4.00 daily) 6 accessible spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	7
History
Opened	January 13, 1980
Rebuilt	June 3, 2013
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	313 (weekday inbound average)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Ayer toward Wachusett Fitchburg Line South Acton toward North Station

Littleton/Route 495 is a passenger rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line located in Littleton, Massachusetts. The station is located at the intersection of Grimes Lane and Foster Street near Route 2 and I-495 and serves as a park-and-ride station for both highways.

A previous station was open at King Street in West Littleton until 1975. Littleton/Route 495 station opened several miles away in 1980 as an inexpensive park-and-ride to gather commuters from the northwest Boston suburbs. In 2011, work began on the construction of a new station, with a full-length handicapped accessible platform and a pedestrian bridge to the parking lot, as part of a larger project to improve the Fitchburg Line. After about 16 months of construction, the new station and pedestrian bridge opened in June 2013.

The Fitchburg Railroad was extended westward from Cambridge between 1843 and 1845, reaching Littleton around November 1844. Residents at Littleton Common did not like the appearance of the railroad, so it was routed through what was called West Littleton or Harwood Junction instead. A large two-story station was placed there at the intersection of King Street and Taylor Street. The long building included separate rooms for passengers and freight, and a living area for the station master. In 1879, the Fitchburg replaced it with a Victorian-style depot building a few feet to the east. The old station was moved south on Taylor Street and served as an apartment building for some time thereafter.

Residents were not allowed to ride trains on Sundays until 1850, and for some time thereafter only for the purpose of attending religious services. Despite minor accidents in 1845 and 1849, and a crash of the Tunnel Express on October 7, 1880 which killed two passengers, the railroad became important to daily life in Littleton. Freight including building materials, apples, and milk were shipped from several locations, including the depot. Much of the cattle transported on the line between 1885 and 1930 passed through the quarantine station in Littleton. The railroad also delivered the daily mail, its primary source of profit. The station became a center of local commerce and industry, with both housing and businesses erected around Depot Square.

Several plans were made between 1900 and 1906 to construct a street railway, but no construction took place. The B&M secured a bus franchise in the town in 1926.