Grand Junction Railroad and Depot Company - Current Status

Current Status

The line is currently owned by the MBTA and controlled by the MBCR dispatcher (see MBCR Bulletin 8-41c). Prior to June 17, 2010, the line was owned by CSX Transportation, except for the East Boston section, which Guilford Rail System uses (since reconnected to the old Eastern Railroad East Boston line). MIT owns a section of the right-of-way in Cambridge from a point west of Pacific Street to Broadway, with an easement granted to CSX. The section of the line formerly used by the Eastern through Somerville, Everett and Chelsea is now used by the MBTA's Newburyport/Rockport Line, and the line west of there is used by the MBTA to bring Commuter Rail trains between the two halves of its system, in lieu of a North-South Rail Link, and by CSX to haul freight (a daily train with produce to the Chelsea Produce Market and scrap metal to a processor in Everett). It is also used by Amtrak to transfer its equipment for the Downeaster from North Station to the Amtrak maintenance facility at Southampton Street in Boston. The track loading gauge is the minimal Plate B.

In September 2009, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts finalized an agreement to purchase several CSX rail lines in eastern Massachusetts, including the Grand Junction tracks from the Beacon Park Yard in Allston, through Cambridge. The deal was closed on June 17, 2010.

The Barnum and Bailey Circus train often parks on the Grand Junction while the circus is in Boston.

As of November 21, 2012, the Grand Junction Railroad Bridge was closed to all rail traffic due to its poor condition. This was a change from a restriction put in place days earlier, on November 16, which barred freight trains from crossing, as well as restricting MBTA and Amtrak equipment moves to 5 MPH. While emergency repairs are under way, trains moving between the north and south sides of Boston must be routed via Pan Am Railways trackage between Ayer, Massachusetts and Worcester, Massachusetts (a 100+ mile detour).