Owned by MBTA Bicycle facilities 8 spaces Opened June 1835 | Tracks 2 Platforms in use 2 | |
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Location 1 Upland Road
Sharon, Massachusetts Line(s) Providence/Stoughton Line Parking 546 spaces ($4.00 fee)
16 accessible spaces Address Sharon, MA 02067, United States Similar Stoughton, Canton Junction, Mansfield, Providence Station | ||
Sharon is a commuter rail station on the MBTA's Providence/Stoughton Line located in Sharon, Massachusetts. The station has two separate entrances for inbound trains to Boston and for outbound trains to Providence and beyond. Sharon station is the only public transportation in the Sharon area, as there are no public bus lines in the town.
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The station averages 1,048 inbound riders per day, placing it nineteenth on the system, though in previous years it has been reported to be in the top five. New platforms were constructed in 2014 to make the station handicapped accessible.
History
The Boston and Providence Railroad started full operations between the two cities in June 1835, including a station at the modern location in Sharon. In the 1870s, the original Sharon station was replaced by a larger building similar to those still extant at East Greenwich and Kingston in Rhode Island. The Boston and Providence was leased by the Old Colony Railroad in 1888, which was in turn absorbed by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad in 1893.
The current inbound station building and the small outbound shelter were designed by F.J. Pitcher and built in 1936 by the New Haven Railroad. The station building was formerly a private business, but is now open to commuter rail riders.
Penn Central took over New Haven Railroad commuter operations on January 1, 1969. On January 27, 1973, the MBTA acquired a number of Penn Central's Boston commuter lines, including the Providence/Stoughton Line. In June 1973, the MBTA began subsidizing commuter rail service to Sharon. The town had been part of the MBTA district since 1964.
Accessibility
Until 2014, Sharon was the busiest station on the system that was not handicapped-accessible. All other stations with daily ridership above 1,000 passengers had accessible high-level platforms, as did all other stations on the busy Providence/Stoughton Line. After an accessibility complaint was filed in May 2011, construction was mandated to take place by November 1, 2012. No construction took place in 2012, prompting concerns that the commuter rail stop - not just the building - would be closed. On October 15, 2012, the state's Architectural Access Board granted the MBTA an extension until October 1, 2013 to make the station accessible.
The project, which included adding mini-high platforms and improving handicapped access to the building, was originally expected to begin in the spring of 2013 and to be completed that fall at a cost of $1.2 million. In May 2013, the MBTA issued a request for bids for the then-$2.6 million project, with work to start in August. Notice to Proceed was given to the chosen contractor on September 5, 2013, with work to be completed by February 2014. Noise testing begun in April 2014, followed by ongoing construction of mini-high platforms as well as improvements to the building and parking lot.
The accessible parking spots and the building retrofits were completed during May 2014, but construction of the platforms continued for several more months. The mini-high platforms were opened on September 30, 2014, making Sharon fully handicapped accessible.
Other Sharon stations
A station was located in Sharon Heights near Garden Street, about a mile south of Sharon proper. It was closed sometime in the mid-20th century, at least a decade before the 1973 MBTA takeover.
In the late 1800s, a short-lived half-mile branch line led from Sharon Heights to a summer-only station at Lake Massapoag. The branch was also used to haul ice from the lake to surrounding locales. The remnants of the wye to the branch are still visible from passing trains on the main line.