Brandeis/Roberts station

Brandeis/Roberts station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Waltham, Massachusetts. It serves the Fitchburg Line and is located on the edge of the campus of Brandeis University. The station is fully accessible, with mini-high platforms serving both tracks.^[2]

Brandeis/Roberts
An inbound train arriving at Brandeis/Roberts station in 2019
General information
Location	1 Sawyer Road Waltham, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°21′43.24″N 71°15′36.38″W
Line(s)	Fitchburg Route
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	MBTA bus: 553
Construction
Parking	70 spaces ($4.00 fee)
Bicycle facilities	8 spaces
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	2
History
Opened	c. 1850
Previous names	Roberts
Passengers
2018	369 (weekday average boardings)[1]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station Kendal Green toward Wachusett Fitchburg Line Waltham toward North Station
Location

History

The Fitchburg Railroad opened from Waltham to Concord on June 17, 1844.^[3] A flag stop was open at the South Street crossing by 1852.^[4] It was named Roberts Crossing (later shortened to Roberts) after John Roberts, who operated a nearby paper mill.^[5][6][7]

New stations at Roberts and nearby Stony Brook were built in 1887.^[8][9] The railroad opened a roundhouse at Roberts in early 1893, replacing an older facility in Waltham.^[10] The Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) closed the station building in 1937, but trains continued to stop at the platform.^[11][12]

In 1977 or 1978, the station was renamed Brandeis–Roberts (later styled Brandeis/Roberts) to denote the growing university.^[13][14] A $70,000 renovation of the station was completed on December 18, 1986.^[15] Accessible mini-high platforms were installed either in that renovation or around 1991.^[16][17]

References

1. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
2. "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.
3. Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. pp. 87, 88. ISBN 9780685412947.
4. Walling, Henry F. (1852). Map of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : based upon the trigonometrical survey of the state (Map). 1:50,000. Smith & Bumstead.
5. Beers, Frederick W. (1875). "Waltham" (Map). County atlas of Middlesex, Massachusetts : from actual surveys. 1:26,400. J.B. Beers & Co. p. 87.
6. Hurd, Duane Hamilton (1890). History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men. Vol. III. J. W. Lewis & Co. pp. 757, 758.
7. "Memoir of William Roberts". Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Vol. 34. American Society of Civil Engineers. 1908. p. 313.
8. "Currents of Commerce". The Boston Globe. January 12, 1887. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Railroad Racket". The Boston Globe. September 1, 1887. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Notes Here and There". Boston Evening Transcript. February 2, 1893. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "B. & M. Would End Winter Hill Service". Boston Globe. February 13, 1937. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Will Continue Four Roberts Platform Stops". Boston Globe. March 30, 1937. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
13. MBTA System Route Map, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Spring–Summer 1977 – via Wikimedia Commons
14. MBTA System Route Map, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, 1978 – via Wikimedia Commons
15. Sanborn, George M. (1992). A Chronicle of the Boston Transit System. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on 2019-11-27. Retrieved 2019-10-17 – via Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
16. MBTA : ACCESS; The Guide to Accessible Services and Facilities. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. June 1992. p. 15 – via Internet Archive.
17. Operations Directorate Planning Division (November 1990). "Ridership and Service Statistics" (3 ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. pp. 1–5 – via Internet Archive.

External links

Media related to Brandeis/Roberts station at Wikimedia Commons

• MBTA – Brandeis/Roberts