Infrastructure | Northampton

      For travel to/from Northampton, see Amtrak Stations / Northampton

Passenger rail platform

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

The length of the platform, which was originally just 46 feet, was expanded to its current length in 2019.

The station platform is adjacent to the historic Union Station building which served as a the train station in Northampton from 1897 until 1966.

Ownership

Station platform
MassDOT

Surface parking lot
Harmonic Rock Realty LLC

Railroad tracks
MassDOT

Historic Union Station building
Harmonic Rock Realty LLC
[property card]

Recent History

The Knowledge Corridor – Restore Vermonter Project included provisions for a new station platform just to the south of the historic Union Station building on Railroad Avenue in Northampton. (The Union Station building was not actively considered for reuse as a station stop.)

The original plan called for an Amtrak-approved kiosk-style waiting facility and low-level platform covered by a canopy.

The original plan was changed when it was determined that a full-length (400-foot) high-level station platform would be required so that the new platform would be built in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. A [plan] for the construction of a 400-foot station platform was presented to the City of Northampton Planning Board in the Spring of 2014.

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

The timber platform that was built in 2014 was designed so that the structure could be disassembled and reused at another location at some point in the future.


Extension of the station platform (2018-19)

Architectural rendering of planned expanded rail platform
Northampton, Ma. | June 2017

In 2019 MassDOT completed a project that extended the station platform to a length of 146 feet.

The extended platform now allow for simultaneous level boarding of three passenger cars (one door each of the lead and rear cars and both doors of the middle car).

The project also included the reconstruction of the adjacent privately-owned parking lot.

Further information

Northampton platform extension project
Trains In The Valley


Bicycle/pedestrian underpass (2016-18)

The Knowledge Corridor – Restore Vermonter Project included funding for the construction of a bicycle/pedestrian underpass in Northampton.

Amtrak train 56 — the southbound Vermonter — passing over the new underpass
Northampton, Ma. | November 12, 2017

The underpass, which opened to public in November 2017, provides a direct connection between the Mass Central Rail Trail (on the east side of the railroad tracks) with the Northampton Bike Trail which is on the west side of the tracks.

Further information

Northampton underpass project
Trains In The Valley


Route 9 railroad overpass (built in 1897)

Truck stuck under railroad overpass | Northampton, Mass. | June 5, 2020
Northampton Police Dept. Facebook page

The railroad overpass above Main Street/Bridge Street (MA Route 9) in downtown Northampton, Mass. was built in 1897.

This structure is problematic because it has a posted height of just 11 feet (3.35 meters) above the surface of the street. Because of the low clearance most large trucks simply will not fit under the bridge.

Further information

Route 9 Railroad Overpass
Trains In The Valley


See also

Connecticut River Main Line


Further reading

Union Station – Northampton, Massachusetts (Wikipedia)

Page last updated: Feburary 27, 2022
Page last reviewed: June 28, 2017