Wilmington (MBTA station)

WILMINGTON
The platforms at Wilmington viewed from the inbound platform.
Location	405 Main Street Wilmington, MA
Coordinates	42°32′49″N 71°10′29″W / 42.547°N 71.1747°W / 42.547; -71.1747Coordinates: 42°32′49″N 71°10′29″W / 42.547°N 71.1747°W / 42.547; -71.1747
Line(s)	Lowell Line   Haverhill Line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	Lowell Regional Transit Authority
Construction
Parking	200 Spaces
Other information
Fare zone	3
Traffic
Passengers (2008)	638 weekday avg.[1]
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Anderson Regional Transportation Center toward North Station Lowell Line North Billerica toward Lowell Haverhill Line rush hours only Ballardvale toward Haverhill

Wilmington station is located at 405 Main Street (Rtes. 38/129) at its intersection with Church Street (Rte. 62) Wilmington, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. The station serves trains on the MBTA's Lowell Line, and some trains from the Haverhill Line via the Wildcat Branch. Additionally, the tracks are used by the Amtrak Downeaster service from Boston to Portland, Maine and Brunswick, Maine.

Wildcat Branch

There is a track that branches northeast from Wilmington Station and joins the Haverhill/Reading Line north of North Wilmington Station. Presumably the name derives from the Wilmington High School mascot, the Wildcat, as the spur runs entirely in the city of Wilmington. The primary use of the track is the Amtrak Downeaster train, allowing the trains to serve the Anderson Regional Transportation Center, aka Woburn Amtrak Station, as well as the former Boston & Maine Railroad tracks (now the Haverhill/Reading Line), and avoid the single track portions of the Haverhill/Reading Line south of Wilmington. Amtrak trains do not stop at Wilmington, they just use the tracks, but five Haverhill/Reading trains per day divert along the Wildcat Branch and do stop at Wilmington. The Wildcat branch connects the two MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Wilmington Ma.

Due to the location of the switch to the Wildcat Branch, the station platforms are staggered almost to the point where they don't overlap. The Wildcat Branch is a single track that splits from the outbound track directly after the north end of the outbound platform. Inbound trains approaching the station from the Wildcat Branch actually run the wrong way through the station and then switch over to the inbound track at a switch just south of the station. Due to the unexpectedness of this, there is an audio/visual warning system that alerts passengers when a train is approaching. In this instance, the inbound train will stop for passengers at the outbound platform; it is therefore important for riders to know at which platform their train will stop.

Accessibility

• The Wilmington MBTA Station is handicap accessible. Both inbound and outbound platforms have mini-high level handicap platforms at the end farthest from Boston, which until the last decade has been the MBTA's standard design for train boarding accessibility on the Commuter Rail's suburban stations.

References

External links

• Media related to Wilmington (MBTA station) at Wikimedia Commons
• Official MBTA Station Profile for Wilmington
• Station from Burlington Avenue from Google Maps Street View