West Medford - MBTA Commuter Rail

West Medford is the first MBTA Commuter Rail Station on the Lowell Line after leaving Boston North Station. The station has been the first stop north of Boston since the Tufts University Station closed in October 1979 (after only opening in September 1977). The new Green Line Extension Medford/Tufts Station is located at this same location 1.5 miles south of the West Medford Station, and follows the Lowell Line mostly into Boston although there are no suburban interchange stations.

Amtrak’s Downeaster follows the Lowell Line out of Boston before transitioning to Haverhill Line via the Wildcat Branch just north of Wilmington. A few Haverhill Line trains also use this branch for faster service via the Lowell Line into Boston but as of 2024 all skip this station.

The station is the only intermediate stop on the Lowell Line located in Zone 1A, meaning the fare is the same as a regular subway fare (although no free transfers), and regular 1-Day, 7-Day, and Monthly LinkPasses can be used from this station to Boston as long as they are issued on a CharlieTicket (which prints the pass info out on it), and not a CharlieCard.

The actual West Medford Station consist of a two low-level side platforms that begin at the grade-crossing of High Street and run north. The station isn’t ADA accessible and has a simple painted yellow line, and no tactile warning strip. The Outbound platform is completely amenity-less except for a couple of benches.

The Inbound platform contains a very small single story cinderblock building quasi-shelter that has a few benches under a small open-air area at its southern end. This covers a single bench, with two more benches beneath its slightly overhanging concrete roof. There is an abandoned (with windows covered in mesh guards) and a door indoor waiting room that I assume was once a ticket office. In front of this building there is a mid-station pedestrian crossing that leads to a few steps down off the Outbound platform to Playstead Road, running parallel to the tracks. This is across from where Irving Street ends at a T-intersection.

The northern end of the Inbound platform contains a gap in its fence and access to a parking lot that is also shared with a nearby Walgreens. This parking lot includes and 34 paid parking spaces ($5 on weekdays, $2 on weekends as of 2024) for Commuter Rail customers. There is also a bike rack along the platform at the entrance from the parking lot.
Photos 1-19: June 21, 2024;

A train stops at West Medford the locomotive beyond the platform

Passengers exit through a single door from the single open front car (super obnoxious since North Station's only entrances are at the southern end of the train) on a reverse peak Lowell Line train