Line(s) Greenbush Line Fare zone 5 Opened 31 October 2007 Tracks 1 | Disabled access Yes Closed June 30, 1959 Platforms in use 1 | |
 | ||
Location 777 Country Way
Scituate, Massachusetts Parking 281 spaces ($4.00 fee)
12 accessible spaces Address Scituate, MA 02066, United States Similar West Hingham, Nantasket Junction, East Weymouth, Cohasset, Weymouth Landing/East Braintree | ||
North Scituate is a commuter rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Greenbush Line, located in the North Scituate village of Scituate, Massachusetts. The station, located at 777 Country Way, is the primary station for Scituate, while nearby Greenbush primarily serves as a park-and-ride for adjacent communities. With 532 inbound riders on an average weekday, North Scituate is the second-busiest station on the line. Like the other stations on the Greenbush Line, North Scituate consists of a single full-length high-level platform which provides handicapped-accessible boarding to the line's single track.
Contents
South Shore Railroad
The modern Greenbush Line was originally built as the South Shore Railroad, which opened to Cohasset in 1849. The Old Colony-backed Duxbury and Cohasset Railroad, chartered in 1867, which opened from Cohasset to Duxbury in 1871, including a stop at North Scituate. Three other stations were, at various times, located in Scituate: Egypt station at Captain Pierce Road, Scituate (also called Scituate Harbor) at First Parish Road, and Greenbush at Driftway. After financial troubles in the 1870s, the Duxbury and Cohasset was joined with the South Shore under the fold of the Old Colony Railroad in 1877. The Old Colony was leased to the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad in 1893.
New Haven Railroad
Ridership on the Greenbush Line diminished in the 1930s due to increased competition from automobiles. The line enjoyed a brief uptick in traffic in World War II with the construction of the Hingham Naval Ammunition Depot and the Hingham Naval Ammunition Depot Annex. The number of daily trips was increased from 4 to 8 after World War II under Frederick C. Dumaine, Jr., and modern diesel trains including Budd RDCs were introduced in the 1950s. However, the New Haven Railroad continued to lose money on the service, and after Dumaine was ousted the railroad announced all trains would cease running in 1958. Only an emergency subsidy by the state kept trains running until June 30, 1959 when the Southeast Expressway opened and all passenger train service ended. The former Spanish-style station, built in 1908-09, is located on Gannett Road near the modern station. It has been converted for commercial use.
MBTA era
Calls for the former Old Colony lines to be reactivated began in the 1980s; the Plymouth/Kingston Line and Middleborough/Lakeville Line were reopened in 1997. After much controversy surrounding various aspects of the $534 million project, construction of the Greenbush Line was completed in mid-2007.
The Greenbush line and North Scituate station were opened for full service on October 31, 2007 after a ceremonial train the previous day.