The concourse is located under the TD Garden arena, with the platforms extending north towards drawbridges over the Charles River.

The EZRide Shuttle loops on Red Auerbach Way with a stop near the secondary entrance to North Station.

[3] It is served by water taxi services to Logan Airport and the Boston waterfront by two private companies, and a Lovejoy Wharf – Fan Pier ferry route.

[5]: 33  An even larger third station on the Causeway Street site, constructed of brick with towers at the front corners, was opened on November 24, 1873.

[5]: 33 The Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) opened in July 1845, with a temporary station at Canal and Traverse streets.

The permanent station, opened on October 20, was between Canal and Haverhill streets and fronted on Haymarket Square.

On August 9, 1848, the railroad opened a new station with large Norman style towers at Causeway Street, just east of the B&M tracks.

[5]: 5  The second floor was the largest auditorium in New England at the time; it was the site of two performances by Jenny Lind in October 1850 during her tour of the United States.

[5]: 72  The concourse was topped with the Boston Garden arena, with a 14-story office building to the east and a hotel to the west.

[10] A project lasting from August 26, 1930 to mid-1931 rebuilt the approach to the station, with four new drawbridges crossing a relocated Charles River channel.

[5]: 76 Until the 1960s, the station was the hub for long-distance B&M service to multiple locales north and west of Boston, usually in conjunction with other railroads.

Single commuter-oriented daily round trips on these routes to Concord and Dover, New Hampshire lasted until June 30, 1967.

[14] (Limited MBTA Commuter Rail service to Concord was run from January 28, 1980 to March 1, 1981 as part of a federally funded experiment.

[14] On June 28, 1984, the MBTA awarded a $11.3 million contract for construction of replacement trestles plus new tracks and platforms.

[14] On March 29, 1989, the MBTA awarded a $13.7 million construction contract to raise the five commuter rail platforms for accessibility.

[22][23] The F5X Lovejoy Wharf – World Trade Center Express route, which did not rely on MBTA funding, was run until February 24, 2006.

[24] In 2001, intercity service returned to North Station with Amtrak's Downeaster to Portland, Maine (later extended to Brunswick).

[26][27] Two large train information displays, with electronic noises to imitate Solari boards, were added in November 2007.

The unfinished sixth platform will be completed to serve long out-of-service tracks 11 and 12, the Fitchburg mainline will be slightly relocated to provide more layover space near the maintenance facility, and FX interlocking will be reconfigured.