MBTA Celebrates Opening of Newly-Accessible Natick Center Station
The new Natick Center station features high-level platforms that will allow riders to board and disembark from trains without climbing any stairs.
“On Monday afternoon, elected officials and accessibility advocates convened in Natick to celebrate the grand opening of the new, fully-accessible Natick Center station on the Framingham-Worcester Line.
Before the new platforms opened last month, Natick Center had been among the MBTA's busiest stations that didn't meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards for accessibility.
Dr. Jennifer Harnish, executive director of the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired and a Natick resident, spoke about her satisfaction with the new accessibility features of the new station, including audible announcements for arriving trains, elevators, better lighting, and tactile warning strips along the edge of the new platforms.
"I'm just so thrilled that I'll be able to continue using public transit, to be active not just as a worker in the community, but as a parent, (and) as a child of parents who are no longer able to drive," said Harnish.
Other features of the new station include sheltered bike parking (pictured below) and a new bike and pedestrian bridge over the tracks between Main Street and Washington Street.
New bike parking at Natick Center station, pictured here in July 2025.
The project took more than five and a half years to complete, with a budget of $40 million. The original construction plan called for the project to be finished by 2022, but the Covid-19 pandemic delayed work considerably………”
On Monday afternoon, elected officials and accessibility advocates convened in Natick to celebrate the grand opening of the new, fully-accessible Natick Center station on the Framingham-Worcester Line.
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