Central station (MBTA)

Not to be confused with Central Avenue station (MBTA) or Aquarium station (MBTA) § Central Station proposal.

Central station (also called Central Square station) is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) rapid transit station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It serves the Red Line and has a street-level terminal for the MBTA bus system. It is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue with Western Avenue, Prospect Street, and Magazine Street at Central Square.

Central
A southbound train entering Central station in August 2024
General information
Location	Massachusetts Avenue at Prospect Street Cambridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42.365°N 71.1034°W / 42.365; -71.1034
Line(s)	Cambridge Tunnel
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	MBTA bus: 1, 47, 64, 70, 83, 91
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Bicycle facilities	36 spaces
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	March 23, 1912
Rebuilt	April 25, 1985–March 9, 1988
Passengers
FY2019	15,405 (weekday average boardings)[1]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station Harvard toward Alewife Red Line Kendall/MIT toward Ashmont or Braintree
Track layout Legend Route 2A (Mass Ave.) to Alewife Temple St. Prospect St. Essex St. Pearl St. Side streets are omitted to Ashmont or Braintree Route 2A (Mass Ave.)
Location

Station design

Central station has two side platforms serving the two tracks of the Red Line, which runs northwest–southeast through Central Square under Massachusetts Avenue. Each platform has three sets of stairs, an escalator, and an elevator along its length.^[2] The station is accessible. Six MBTA bus routes – 1, 47, 64, 70, 83, and 91 – stop near the station.^[3] The station has two works of public art, which were installed in 1988 as part of the Arts on the Line program:^[4][5]

• East Indian, by Elizabeth Mapelli, seven fused glass tile murals behind benches on the platforms
• Circle Square by Anne Storrs and Dennis Cunningham, 100 ceramic tile reliefs mounted above the station columns

History

Old tile sign above the platforms

After the success of the 1897-opened Tremont Street Subway, the Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) planned an elevated system with lines to Cambridge, South Boston, Charlestown, and Roxbury. The latter two lines opened in 1901 as the Charlestown Elevated and Washington Street Elevated, while the South Boston line was determined to be infeasible.^[6]: 7 After debate about running an elevated line above business districts in Cambridge, the BERy agreed in late 1906 to build a line under Beacon Hill in Boston, over a new West Boston Bridge, and under Main Street and Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge to Harvard Square.^[6]: 7 Construction began on May 24, 1909.^[6]: 7 The Cambridge Subway opened from Harvard Square to Park Street Under on March 23, 1912, with intermediate stations at Central Square and Kendall Square.^[7]

Kendall Square and Central Square stations had very similar designs, each with two side platforms 270–300 feet (82–91 m) long. The station had one exit and one entrance stairway at each end of each platform; all were 4 feet (1.2 m) wide except for one 6-foot (1.8 m)-wide pair.^[8][9] The platforms and floors were made of granolithic. Station walls were tiled with white enamel, with a buff tile band 6 feet (1.8 m) above the floor and white plaster above.^[8] Several original tile mosaics displaying the station name are still in place above the platforms.

Renovations

The inbound elevator in 2008, prior to replacement

On January 26, 1978, heavy rains flooded the station.^[10] In the mid-1980s, the platforms were extended at many early-built Red Line stations, allowing six-car trains to be run beginning in January 1988.^[7] The platforms at Central were extended to the northwest (contrary to original plans for the southeast) beginning on April 25, 1985, with new entrances placed west of Prospect Street.^[11][12] (Extension to the northwest had been previously proposed in 1927 to add the additional entrances.)^[13] The $11.2 million project was completed on March 9, 1988.^[14]

The MBTA agreed to replace the inbound elevator as part of the 2006 settlement of Joanne Daniels-Finegold, et al. v. MBTA.^[15] Notice to proceed was given in June 2017.^[16] The elevator was closed on April 9, 2018; due to issues with conduits and a standpipe, completion was delayed by over a year to April 2, 2020.^[17][18][19]

The MBTA also plans to add two additional elevators to the station, and to replace the outbound elevator.^[2] Design was completed by May 2022.^[20] As of November 2023^[update], construction is expected to last from spring 2024 to fall 2026.^[21]

References

1. "A Guide to Ridership Data". MassDOT/MBTA Office of Performance Management and Innovation. June 22, 2020. p. 6.
2. "Central Square Station Accessibility Improvements". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. August 3, 2023. Archived from the original on August 5, 2023.
3. "2023–24 System Map". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. December 17, 2023.
4. Howe, Peter J. (April 27, 1988). "MBTA hopes riders will be transported by art". Boston Globe. pp. 21, 35 – via Newspapers.com. (second page)
5. "On the Red Line" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2017. p. 7.
6. Cheney, Frank (2002). Boston's Red Line: Bridging the Charles from Alewife to Braintree. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738510477.
7. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
8. Moore, Lewis E. (February 1, 1912). "The Cambridge Subway". Engineering News. Vol. 67, no. 5. pp. 187–195 – via Hathi Trust.
9. "The Cambridge Subway". Electric Railway Journal. Vol. 39, no. 19. May 11, 1912. pp. 782–789 – via Google Books.
10. Moskowitz, Eric (18 November 2012). "Starts and Stops: MBTA receives first of long-delayed rail cars". Boston Globe. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
11. Cambridge Community Development Department (2013). "Central Square: Final Report". p. 21. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
12. Sanborn, George M. (1992). A Chronicle of the Boston Transit System. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017 – via MIT.
13. "Cambridge Votes $100,000 For Home". Boston Globe. November 16, 1927. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
14. Howe, Peter J. (March 10, 1988). "$11.2m overhaul complete at MBTA station". Boston Globe. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Settlement Agreement" (PDF). Joanne Daniels-Finegold et al. v. MBTA. April 10, 2006. p. 18.
16. Brelsford, Laura (November 26, 2019). "SWA Initiatives—November 2019" (PDF). pp. 10–12.
17. Dwyer, Dialynn (May 7, 2019). "Erin Murphy commutes 3 stops on the Red Line. Because an elevator is closed, it takes her 'close to an hour.'". Boston Globe.
18. Connolly, Mike. "Update on the Central Inbound Elevator".
19. Brelsford, Laura (May 26, 2020). "SWA Initiatives—May 2020" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. pp. 10–11.
20. "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—May 2022" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. May 2022. p. 9.
21. "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—November 2023" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. November 27, 2023. p. 10.

External links

• MBTA - Central
• Google Maps Street View: Prospect Street entrances, Essex Street entrances, Pearl Street entrances