Babcock Street station
Babcock Street | |||||||||||||
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57 | |||||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||
Opened | May 18, 1896 | ||||||||||||
Rebuilt | 1970s; November 15, 2021 | ||||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||||
2011 | Weekday average boardings:[1] Babcock Street: 1,387 Pleasant Street: 1,167 | ||||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||||
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Location | |||||||||||||
Babcock Street station is a
Streetcar service on Commonwealth Avenue began in 1896 under the West End Street Railway. The line passed through several operators; in the 1960s, it became the Green Line B branch. Stops were located at Alcorn Street – moved east to Babcock Street around 1975 – and Pleasant Street. Planning for consolidation of the two stations into a single accessible station as part of a stop consolidation project began in 2014. Construction of Babcock Street station and nearby Amory Street station began in February 2021; they opened on November 15, 2021.
Station layout
Babcock Street station is located in the median of Commonwealth Avenue between Harry Agganis Way and Babcock Street, adjacent to the West Campus section of Boston University.[2] The station has two accessible 225-foot (69 m)-long side platforms serving the two tracks of the B branch. The platforms are located in the middle of the 720-foot (220 m)-long block, with walkways from the platforms to both streets. Each platform has a 150-foot (46 m)-long canopy for passengers, with wavy colored panels on both sides.[3][2]
History
Streetcar service
The West End Street Railway built a new streetcar line in the median of Commonwealth Avenue in the mid-1890s. Service began on the new tracks between Governors Square and Union Square on May 18, 1896.[4][5][6]: 48 This route was extended to Nonantum Square on existing tracks later that year; it began using the Tremont Street subway on November 8, 1897.[6]: 48 [7] The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) leased the West End Street Railway on October 1, 1897, and continued its system expansion.[6]: 35 New tracks on Commonwealth Avenue from Chestnut Hill Avenue to Brighton Avenue were opened by the BERy on May 26, 1900, allowing direct service from Lake Street to downtown via Commonwealth Avenue.[6]: 58 The Nonantum Square line was extended to Watertown Yard in 1912, forming the service pattern for the next half-century.[8]
The new Braves Field opened on August 18, 1915; it included a loop track between Gaffney Street and Babcock Street with a prepayment station to allow streetcars to directly serve the ballpark.[9] The loop was also used to turn trains for Red Sox games at Fenway Park, and for rush-hour short turns; after November 1945, these short turns also operated during midday and on Saturdays.[10]: 108 It was heavily used during games; for the 1948 World Series, streetcars ran between Park Street and Braves Field on 45-second headways.[10]: 109 Boston University purchased Braves Field in 1953 when the Braves moved to Milwaukee, and soon wished to use the loop area for other purposes. After several years of requests, the loop was abandoned on January 15, 1962.[11]: 214 The site was proposed for a transfer station (to allow rapid transit service through the subway to Lechmere) in 1921.[12] The proposed station was moved west to Harvard Avenue the next year, and ultimately was never built.[6]: 59 [13]
The BERy was succeeded by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in 1947; the MTA in turn was succeeded by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in 1964.[14] The MBTA designated the remaining streetcar lines as the Green Line in 1965; in 1967, the Watertown line became the Green Line A branch, with the Lake Street (Boston College) line becoming the B branch. A branch service ended on June 21, 1969, leaving only the B branch on Commonwealth Avenue.[15] By 1972, stops with small platforms were located at Alcorn Street and Pleasant Street.[16] Around 1975, the Alcorn Street stop was relocated east to Babcock Street.[17]: 45
Stop consolidation
In 2014, the MBTA began planning to consolidate four stops –
The MBTA awarded a $17.8 million construction contract on March 23, 2020.
The old Babcock Street station was closed at the end of service on Friday, November 12, 2021. After a weekend closure, the new Babcock Street station opened on November 15; the former station was soon removed.[26]
References
- ^ "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.
- ^ a b c d "B Branch Station Consolidation Project: Virtual Public Meeting" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. January 28, 2021.
- ^ a b "FMCB Awards $17.8 Million for B Branch Station Consolidation Work" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. March 23, 2020.
- ^ Ninth Annual Report of the West End Street Railway Company for the Year Ending September 30, 1896. Walker, Young & Co. 1896. p. 5 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "New Electric Line". The Boston Globe. April 9, 1895. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ ISBN 0938315048.
- ^ "Subway Notice". The Boston Globe. November 6, 1897. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "To Watertown Car Barn". The Boston Globe. December 7, 1912. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Handling Traffic at Largest Baseball Park". Electric Railway Journal. Vol. 46, no. 13. September 25, 1915. p. 621 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ ISBN 0938315056.
- ISBN 9780938315070.
- ^ "For Braves Field and Lechmere Sq". Boston Globe. September 2, 1921. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Dana Outlines New Elevated Plan". Boston Globe. June 26, 1922. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ISBN 0752409077.
- ^ Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
- ^ Thomas K. Dyer Inc. (1972). "Green Line Station Mileage from Lechmere". Plan for Acquisition and Use of Railroad Rights-of-Way. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
- hdl:1721.1/111263.
- ^ "Comm. Ave. Green Line Improvements Public Meeting" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. October 16, 2014.
- ^ Brown, Joel (November 3, 2016). "Comm Ave Remake Kicks Off". BU Today. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
- ^ O'Rourke, John (October 23, 2014). "T May Eliminate Two Green Line B Stops". BU Today. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
- ^ Brelsford, Laura (December 5, 2016). "MBTA System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives: December 2016 Update" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
- ^ "MBTA Announces Names of New Stations as Part of Green Line B Branch Station Consolidation Project" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. February 11, 2021.
- ^ "Building a Better T: Green Line B Branch Station Consolidation Project Work Taking Place for Seven Weeks, Washington Street – Kenmore Work Begins April 17" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. March 31, 2021.
- ^ "B Branch Accelerated Work 100% Complete" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. June 14, 2021.
- ^ Crimaldi, Laura (July 31, 2021). "NTSB investigating Green Line crash that left 25 injured; MBTA operator placed on leave". The Boston Globe.
- ^ "New Babcock Street and Amory Street Stations Open November 15" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. November 12, 2021.