Infrastructure | Greenfield – Trains In The Valley

For travel to/from Greenfield, see Amtrak Stations – Greenfield

Passenger rail station

The current Amtrak station stop in Greenfield is a covered 146-foot long wooden high-level boarding platform. The platform was constructed in late 2014 as part of the Knowledge Corridor – Restore Vermonter Project.

The station platform is located next to the John W. Olver Transit Center which is the intermodal hub for Franklin County. The waiting room inside the transit center is available for use by both rail and bus passengers.

Ownership

Station platform
MassDOT

Olver Transit Center
Franklin Regional Transit Authority
[property card]

Parking lot (surface lot)
Franklin Regional Transit Authority

Parking garage
City of Greenfield

Railroad tracks
MassDOT

Amtrak station stop | Greenfield, Ma. | August 8, 2020
(the building on the right is the Olver Transit Center)

Recent history

The Knowledge Corridor – Restore Vermonter Project included provisions for the construction of a new station platform at a location near the Olver Transit Center.

The original plan was to the build an Amtrak-approved kiosk-style waiting facility and low-level platform. The plan also called for the construction of a canopy above the platform.

This plan was modified when it was determined that a full-length (400-foot) high-level station platform would be required so that the new platform would be in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

In 2014 this plan was set aside by MassDOT and a decision was made to build a 46-foot long mini high-level platform so that passenger service on the line could be inaugurated in December 2014.

The platform was enlarged to a length of 146 feet in 2019 as part of the Greenfield Platform Extension Project.

The existing wooden platform is designed so that it can be disassembled and reused at another location.

Olver Transit Center

Coming soon

Parking at the Olver Transit Center

A total of 39 short-term parking places are available in the Olver Transit Center lot.

Expanded parking lot | Olver Transit Center | Greenfield, Ma. | January 6, 2017 — The expanded parking lot at the Olver Transit Center
Greenfield, Ma. | January 6, 2017

The Franklin Regional Transit Authority added 24 additional short-term spaces to the parking lot at the transit center in the fall of 2016.

Olive Street Parking Garage

On October 27, 2016 Governor Charlie Baker announced that the City of Greenfield had been awarded a $7.5 million MassWorks Infrastructure Grant to help fund the construction of a new multi-level parking garage. The new four-story, 350-space garage will be located across the street from the Olver Transit Center and within walking distance of the new Franklin County Courthouse.

Construction of the new garage began in September 2017. The new garage was opened to the public on November 9, 2018.

The 270-space, four-floor garage, which has been a decade in the making, adds significant parking capacity in the core of the downtown area of the city.

It also has the potential of becoming the parking location of choice for people who drive to Greenfield to take the train from Greenfield, since the Olver Transit Center is right across the street.

Further reading

Parking garage construction updates | City of Greenfield

“Greenfield garage opens, with promise of boost to downtown”
By Joshua Solomon | The Recorder | November 9, 2018