Massachusetts Avenue station

For the MBTA Silver Line station, see Massachusetts Avenue station (MBTA Silver Line). For the San Diego Trolley station, see Massachusetts Avenue station (San Diego Trolley).

Massachusetts Avenue station is a rapid transit station in the South End and Symphony neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA Orange Line, and is located at 380 Massachusetts Avenue. The station opened in 1987 as part of the renovation and relocation of the southern Orange Line into the Southwest Corridor. The Orange line runs parallel to the Northeast Corridor, which carries Amtrak trains and several MBTA commuter rail lines.

Massachusetts Ave
A southbound train at the station in July 2024
General information
Location	380 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42.3416°N 71.0833°W / 42.3416; -71.0833
Line(s)	Southwest Corridor
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	MBTA bus: 1
Construction
Structure type	Below grade
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	May 4, 1987
Passengers
FY2019	5,627 boardings (weekday average)[1]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station Ruggles toward Forest Hills Orange Line Back Bay toward Oak Grove
Track layout Legend to Oak Grove (Northeast Corridor)   Massachusetts Ave. Gainsborough St. Camden St. (Northeast Corridor)   to Forest Hills
Location

Station layout

Interior of the main headhouse

Like all stations on the Orange Line, Massachusetts Avenue is accessible. The station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Orange Line. The main headhouse is located on the south side of Massachusetts Avenue; a pedestrian tunnel leads to a secondary entrance on the north side. An exit-only staircase at the south end of the platform leads to a footbridge connecting Gainsborough Street and Camden Street.

The MBTA plans to add a fare lobby and elevator at the footbridge, and to replace the existing elevator at the main entrance. A $4.7 million design contract for Jackson Square and Massachusetts Avenue was awarded in April 2020.^[2][3] Design work reached 30% completion in 2021 and 75% completion in 2022; it was nearing completion by November 2023.^[4][2][5][6]

History

Chickering station

The Boston and Providence Railroad (B&P) opened southwest from Boston in June 1834.^[7] There were initially no intermediate stations between the Boston terminal (near Park Square) and Roxbury, as the line passed through the unoccupied Charles River mud flats.^[8] Filling of the flats began in the late 1850s, forming the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods. The flats between Tremont Street and the railroad causeway were filled and developed during the 1860s, becoming the west portion of the South End.^[9]

The disused Chickering station in 1906

In September 1872, the B&P purchased a 6,221 square feet (577.9 m²) parcel at Camden Street from the Boston Water Power Company.^[10][11] A station building was under construction by that November.^[12][13] Chickering station, named for the nearby Chickering & Sons piano factory, opened in 1873.^[14] The single-story brick structure was located on the south side of the tracks on the northeast side of Camden Street.^[15][16] Chickering station was commonly used by baseball fans attending games at the South End Grounds.^[17]

The Old Colony Railroad leased the B&P in 1891.^[7] In November 1891, the Old Colony purchased a parcel on the north side of the tracks adjacent to West Chester Park (now Massachusetts Avenue).^[18] Although the railroad reportedly intended to build a station there to replace Chickering, it did not do so; the land was instead used for a rail yard.^[19][20] The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad acquired the Old Colony in 1893.^[7]

Chickering station was closed in 1896 because Back Bay station was under construction just 3,500 feet (1,100 m) to the northeast, and because the West End Street Railway operated frequent streetcar service on nearby Columbus Avenue.^[21][22] A footbridge was built over the tracks connecting Camden Street and Gainsborough Street in 1904.^[23] The vacant station building remained extant until at least the 1910s.^[15][24][25]

Nearby residents and institutions, including the YCMA on Huntington Avenue, petitioned the railroad in 1912 and 1919 to reopen the station.^[26][27][28] The 1919 petition was opposed by the railroad, which cited low ridership when the station was previously open and a desire not to compete with streetcars. The railroad also did not provide evening service to the inner stations on the line, so the station would not have served the nearby theaters.^[29] The petition was rejected by the state Public Service Commission later in 1919.^[30]

Rapid transit

The modern station was constructed as part of the Southwest Corridor project from 1979 to 1987. It opened along with the new southern section of the Orange Line on May 4, 1987.^[31] The entire Orange Line, including Massachusetts Avenue station, was closed from August 19 to September 18, 2022, during maintenance work.^[32]

References

1. "A Guide to Ridership Data". MassDOT/MBTA Office of Performance Management and Innovation. June 22, 2020. p. 9.
2. Horan, Tim (December 2021). "Massachusetts Avenue Station Accessibility and Infrastructure Improvements: Recorded Project Overview – 30% Design" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
3. Schwarz, John (April 13, 2020). "MBTA Contract Nos. A90PS02, A90PS04, & A90PS05: Architectural and Engineering Services for Station and Accessibility Improvements" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
4. "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—December 2021" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. December 2021. p. 10.
5. "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—December 2022" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. December 6, 2022. p. 9.
6. "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—November 2023" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. November 27, 2023. p. 10.
7. Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 ed.). Branch Line Press. pp. 175–183. ISBN 9780942147124.
8. McIntyre, Henry (1852). Map of the city of Boston and immediate neighborhood : from original surveys (Map). 1:5,400. Wagner & McGuigan's Steam Lith Press.
9. Whitehill, Walter Muir; Kennedy, Lawrence W. (2000). Boston: A Topographical History (3rd ed.). Belknap Press. pp. 129, 158–159. ISBN 0-674-00267-9. LCCN 99-086597.
10. "Sales of Houses and Lands". The Boston Globe. September 21, 1872. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Plan of lands belonging to the Boston Water Power Company and the Commonwealth, on the Back Bay, showing part of the city streets, and the streets, on the land of the Commonwealth as laid out to date (Map). 1:3,000. May 1, 1860.
12. "Annual Meeting of the Boston & Providence Railroad Company". The Boston Globe. November 21, 1872. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
13. Report of the Board of Directors of the Boston and Providence Railroad Corporation for the Year Ending September 30, 1872. Boston and Providence Railroad Corporation. November 20, 1872. p. 6.
14. "Boston and Providence". The Boston Globe. November 20, 1873. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Plate 52" (Map). Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Sanborn Map Company. Vol. 2. 1914.
16. "Part of Ward 11, Boston" (Map). Atlas of County of Suffolk, MA including Boston Proper. G.M. Hopkins & Co. Vol. 1. 1874. Plate Y.
17. Ruzzo, Bob. "South End Grounds (Boston)". Society for American Baseball Research.
18. "Beautifying Boston". The Boston Globe. November 29, 1891. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
19. "Real Estate Firm". The Boston Globe. December 6, 1891. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
20. Bromley, George Washington; Bromley, Walter Scott (1898). "Part of Wards 10 & 19, City of Boston" (Map). Atlas of the city of Boston : Boston proper. 1:960. G.W. Bromley & Co. Plate 31.
21. Seventh Annual Report of the Public Service Commission for the Eleven Months ended November 30, 1919. Massachusetts Public Service Commission. January 1920. pp. 222–223 – via Google Books.
22. "Two Abandoned Stations". The Boston Sunday Globe Magazine. June 17, 1906. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
23. "Notes Here and There". Boston Evening Transcript. April 7, 1904. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
24. Bromley, George Washington; Bromley, Walter Scott (1917). "Part of Wards 7 & 13, City of Boston" (Map). Atlas of the city of Boston : Boston proper and Back Bay. 1:960. G.W. Bromley & Co. Plate 30.
25. Right of way and track map, Boston and Providence R.R. Corp. operated by the New York, New Haven and Hartford R.R. Co., operating from Pleasant View to Boston, station 2180+80 to station 2207+20, city of Boston, state of Mass (Map). 1:600. New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. June 30, 1915.
26. "Petition for Chickering Station". The Boston Globe. March 26, 1912. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
27. "Want Chickering Station". The Boston Globe. April 19, 1912. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
28. "Hearing on Reopening of Chickering Station". The Boston Globe. June 2, 1919. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
29. "New Haven Opposes Opening Old Chickering Station". The Boston Globe. June 4, 1949. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
30. "Winthrop and Revere Fare Petition Shelved". Boston Globe. December 2, 1919. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
31. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
32. "A Rider's Guide to Planning Ahead: Upcoming Orange & Green Line Service Suspensions" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. August 2022.

External links

• MBTA - Massachusetts Avenue
• MBTA – Elevator Accessibility Upgrades
• Google Maps Street View: Massachusetts Avenue entrances, Gainsborough Street exit, Camden Street exit