West Acton station was a
flag stop by 1858. It served the village of West Acton, and later
Boxborough when its stop was closed in the 1930s. The station building, located on the east side of the tracks, was demolished in the mid 1960s as ridership declined. When the newly formed
MBTA began subsidizing the
Boston & Maine Railroad's intrastate service on January 18, 1965, service was only kept to communities in the MBTA's limited funding district. All service on the Fitchburg Line west of
West Concord, including to West Acton, was cut. Service was restored as far as
Ayer on June 28, 1965, after several towns reached subsidy agreements with the MBTA. On March 1, 1975, the line was cut back to
South Acton, dropping stops at Ayer,
Littleton, and West Acton. When service was restored in 1980, West Acton (which was considered too close to South Acton) and
Shirley were not reopened, in order to speed travel times to
Gardner. Shirley reopened in 1981, but West Acton has remained closed. ==References==