Shirley (MBTA station)

SHIRLEY
Looking inbound at the platform and 1993-built shelter
Location	Ayer Road & Phoenix Street Shirley, MA 01464
Coordinates	42°32′42″N 71°38′53″W / 42.54505°N 71.64815°W / 42.54505; -71.64815Coordinates: 42°32′42″N 71°38′53″W / 42.54505°N 71.64815°W / 42.54505; -71.64815
Line(s)	Fitchburg Line
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	2
Construction
Parking	25 spaces (free)
Bicycle facilities	yes
Other information
Fare zone	8
History
Opened	December 30, 1844 May 1981
Closed	January 18, 1965
Rebuilt	1993 (shelter)
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	315 (weekday inbound average)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station North Leominster toward Wachusett Fitchburg Line Ayer toward North Station

Shirley is a passenger rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line, located in the village center of Shirley, Massachusetts. The station consists of a short low-level platform with an asphalt patch for passengers to cross the tracks, plus a small wooden shelter on the inbound side. Shirley station is not handicapped accessible.

The Fitchburg Railroad opened to Shirley on December 30, 1844. Service - later operated by the Boston and Maine Railroad - lasted until the newly formed Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority began to subsidize service in 1965. The section of the line from West Concord to Fitchburg was outside the MBTA's funding district, and service was cut back to West Concord on January 18, 1965. The mid-sized station building was torn down around this time.

The line was re-extended as far as Ayer (one stop inbound of Shirley) later in 1965 and cut back to South Acton in 1975. Service was extended out to Gardner in January 1980, but the stops at Shirley and West Acton were not restored. Shirley reopened in May 1980, with a small plexiglass bus stop shelter on the inbound side. The bus shelter was replaced by a hip-roofed wooden structure - its style based on the original Shirley station - in 1993.