Canton Center station

{{Short description|Rail station in Canton, Massachusetts, US}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox station | style = MBTA | name = Canton Center | image = Canopy at Canton Center station, April 2016.JPG | image_caption = Canton Center station in April 2016 | address = 710 Washington Street | borough = Canton, Massachusetts | coordinates = {{coord|42.1571|-71.1463|region:US-MA_type:railwaystation |display=inline,title}} | line = Stoughton Branch | other = {{ric|MBTA|Bus|name=y}}: {{MBTA bus links|Canton Center}} | platform = 1 side platform | tracks = 1 | parking = 219 spaces | bicycle = 10 spaces | passengers=334 daily boardings<ref name=CRcounts>{{MBTA Commuter Rail 2024 ridership}}</ref> | pass_year=2024 | opened = 1845 | closed = | rebuilt = | accessible = yes | zone = 3 | former = South Canton, Canton | services = {{Adjacent stations|system1=MBTA |line1=Providence/Stoughton|left1=Stoughton|right1=Canton Junction|to-left1=Stoughton}} | other_services_header = Former services | other_services_collapsible = yes | other_services = {{Adjacent stations|system=New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad |line1=Stoughton Branch|left1=Springdale|right1=Canton Junction|to-left1=Stoughton |line2=Fall River|to-left2=Fall River|left2=Stoughton|right2=Canton Junction|to-right2=Boston |line3=New Bedford|to-left3=New Bedford|left3=Stoughton|right3=Canton Junction|to-right3=Boston | other_services2_header = Proposed services | other_services2_collapsible = yes | other_services2 = {{Adjacent stations|system=MBTA|line=South Coast Rail|left=Stoughton|right=Canton Junction|note-mid=Phase 2}} }} | mapframe = yes | mapframe-marker-color = #{{rcr|MBTA|Rail}} }}

'''Canton Center station''' is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Canton, Massachusetts. It serves the Providence/Stoughton Line, including most Stoughton Branch service except for evening inbound trains. The station has 1 side platform on the south side of the track west of Washington Street; the platform has a mini-high section for accessibility.

==History== thumb|left|1907 postcard of Canton station The Stoughton Branch Railroad opened in early 1845. The station near the village center was named '''South Canton''' to distinguish it from Canton station on the Boston and Providence Railroad mainline. Around 1879, the branch station was renamed '''Canton''', while the mainline station became Canton Junction.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/reportboarddire01limigoog/page/n117 |title=Report of the Board of Directors of the Boston and Providence Railroad Corporation for the Year Ending September 30, 1879 |page=8 |publisher=Boston and Providence Railroad |year=1879}}</ref> The Old Colony Railroad constructed a new freight house at Canton in 1891.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2GI9AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA27-PA8 |page=8 |date=September 1891 |title=Twenty-Eighth Annual Report of the Old Colony Railroad Co. to the Stockholders |publisher=Old Colony Railroad Company}}</ref>

Around 2001, the station was briefly proposed to be closed as part of the South Coast Rail project.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37724204/the_boston_globe/ |title=MBTA offers words of comfort over changes at Canton station |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=December 13, 2001 |first=John |last=Laidler |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The station is proposed to be reconstructed as part of Phase 2 of the since-modified project, which would extend the Stoughton Branch south to several South Coast cities.<ref name=sharp>{{cite news |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/south/2017/06/16/sharp-differences-over-latest-plan-for-south-coast-rail/Vlmt4rC3DXy8Wo5gIJWLYI/story.html |title=Sharp differences over latest plan for South Coast Rail |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=June 16, 2017 |first=John |last=Laidler |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619035227/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/south/2017/06/16/sharp-differences-over-latest-plan-for-south-coast-rail/Vlmt4rC3DXy8Wo5gIJWLYI/story.html |archive-date=June 19, 2017}}</ref> Under plans released in 2013, a second track would be added through the station to support increased bidirectional service; two {{convert|800|ft|adj=on}} low-level platforms would be built, each with a mini-high platform for accessibility.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Portals/74/docs/topics/SouthCoastRail/VolII/3AlternativesFigures.pdf |work=Volume II: FEIS/FEIR Figures Final Environmental Impact Statement/Final Environmental Impact Report on the South Coast Rail Project proposed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation |title=Figure 3.2-20 Canton Center Station Proposed Reconstruction |date=August 2013 |publisher=U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District}}</ref> By 2024, with Phase 1 nearing completion, it was unclear whether Phase 2 would ever be constructed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Medeiros |first=Dan |date=July 10, 2024 |title=Even when it opens, South Coast Rail may never be completely 'finished.' Here's why. |url=https://www.heraldnews.com/story/news/2024/07/10/south-coast-rail-what-is-the-full-build-and-will-it-be-constructed/74346910007/ |newspaper=The Herald News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120235240/https://www.heraldnews.com/story/news/2024/07/10/south-coast-rail-what-is-the-full-build-and-will-it-be-constructed/74346910007/ |archive-date=January 20, 2025}}</ref> {{clear left}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite book | last=Galvin | first=Edward D. | title=A History of Canton Junction | date=1987 | location=Brunswick, Maine | publisher=Distributed by Sculpin Publications | oclc=17939563 | url=https://archive.org/details/historyofcantonj00galv/page/n0}}

==External links== {{commons category-inline}} *[https://www.mbta.com/stops/place-SB-0156 MBTA - Canton Center]

Category:MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Norfolk County, Massachusetts Category:Former Old Colony Railroad stations Category:Buildings and structures in Canton, Massachusetts