Union Station (Walpole, Massachusetts)

Walpole
Walpole Union Station in April 2010
General information
Location	275 West Street Walpole, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°08′43″N 71°15′28″W / 42.1453°N 71.2579°W / 42.1453; -71.2579
Line(s)	Franklin Branch Framingham Secondary
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Construction
Parking	343 spaces ($4.00 fee)[1]
Bicycle facilities	Racks available[1]
Other information
Fare zone	4[1]
History
Opened	April 23, 1849[2]
Rebuilt	1883, 1893, 1978
Passengers
2018	744 (weekday average boardings)[3]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station Norfolk toward Forge Park/495 Franklin/​Foxboro Line Windsor Gardens toward South Station
Former services Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station Norfolk toward Blackstone Midland Line Plimptonville toward Boston
Union Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Built	1883
Architectural style	Victorian eclectic
NRHP reference No.	16000139[4]
Added to NRHP	April 5, 2016
Location

Union Station, also known as Walpole station, is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Walpole, Massachusetts. It is located at the crossing of the Franklin Branch and Framingham Secondary just west of downtown Walpole. The station has one side platform on the Franklin Branch serving the Franklin/Foxboro Line service. Unlike most MBTA stations, Walpole station is not accessible.

Railroad service to Walpole began with the Norfolk County Railroad on April 23, 1849. Walpole became a railroad junction when the Mansfield and Framingham Railroad opened in 1870, and an interlocking tower was built in 1882 to control the junction. The next year, the separate stations on the two lines were replaced with a union station at the junction. The structure burned in 1893 and was rebuilt as a Victorian eclectic depot with Richardsonian influences—one of the few such buildings in the state constructed from wood rather than stone. By 1898, both lines were controlled by the New Haven Railroad, with the ex-Norfolk County Railroad as the Midland Division.

Passenger service on the Mansfield–Framingham line ended in 1933, and intercity service on the Midland Division ended in 1955. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) began funding commuter rail service on the line in 1966, and increased service levels during the 1970s. The 1893-built signal tower was decommissioned in 1994. In 2016, Union Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places.