| Milford Branch | |
| Type: | Railroad |
| System: | Boston and Albany Railroad |
| Status: | Abandoned |
| Locale: | MetroWest Towns of Framingham, Sherborn, Holliston, and Milford |
| Start: | Framingham |
| End: | Milford |
| Continuesfrom: | Boston and Worcester Railroad, now the Framingham/Worcester Line |
| Stations: | 8 |
| Yearcommenced: | 1847 |
| Open: | September 1847 |
| Yearcompleted: | July 1848 |
| Close: | 1980 |
| Owner: | CSX (North of Whitney Street in Sherborn) Upper Charles Rail Trail (South of Whitney Street in Sherborn) |
| Character: | heavy rail, abandoned |
| Electrification: | None |
| Map State: | uncollapsed |
The Milford Branch is an abandoned railroad line in Massachusetts. The line formerly ran from Milford to Framingham, traveling through Holliston and Sherborn, connecting to the Boston Subdivision in Framingham and the Milford Secondary in Milford. The line was originally part of the Boston and Albany Railroad, and the end of the line was later abandoned under Penn Central, before the rest of the line was abandoned by Conrail.[1] Although the line passes through Sherborn and terminates in Framingham, the majority of the line lies in Holliston.
The Boston and Worcester Railroad began construction of the Milford Branch in early 1847, heading south from their mainline at Framingham, and opened from Framingham to Holliston by September 1847.[2] and by July 1848 had reached its southern terminus in Milford.[3] [4] Originally, the line was proposed to continue south to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, but this would have interfered with the Norfolk County Railroad, so it was decided to terminate the line in Milford.
In Milford, the line interchanged with what was then known as the Hopkinton and Milford Railroad, later the Milford and Woonsocket Railroad, and today's CSX Milford Secondary.[5] This line was built in stages between 1869 and 1872. In 1893, the Natick Street Railway expanded south through Sherborn to Ashland, but the Milford Branch remained the largest railroad in Milford.
The line continued thriving throughout the early 20th century, but by the 1950s, as with many railroads across the country, the line began struggling. By 1958, the line had only one train per day in each direction, running as a shuttle to/from Framingham during the rush hour only and serving Holliston and Milford stations only.[6] Passenger service could not last much longer, and the Milford Branch's very last passenger train arrived into Milford on the evening of March 28, 1959, after 111 years of service.[7]
Freight service still continued under the B&A, but the line was by this point an unimportant branchline. Eventually, as with the rest of the former B&A, the Milford Branch came under the control of Penn Central in their 1968 creation. The line continued having minimal freight service throughout the 1960s and 70s, but in the early 1980s, the line -- which was then owned by Conrail -- was abandoned.[8] [9] Throughout the 1980s, 90s, and into the 2000s, the line sat abandoned, with tracks at least partially intact until 2004.[10] [11]
Starting in 2017, portions of the rail line began being converted into the Upper Charles Rail Trail, which as of 2024 has been completed from Whitney Street in Sherborn south to Downtown Milford.[12] [13] [14]
The following remnants still exist along the line:
The MetroWest Regional Transit Authority route 6 roughly parallels the former path of the line.[18]
| Town | Station | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Framingham | Framingham[19] | still active as an MBTA and Amtrak station |
| Sherborn | Whitney | |
| Holliston | East Holliston | station building still remains[20] |
| Holliston | station building still remains | |
| Metcalf | ||
| Braggville | ||
| Milford | Rocky Hill | |
| Milford | station building still remains |
