Forest Hills (MBTA station)

FOREST HILLS
FOREST HILLS

Forest Hills Station, looking south from the Casey Overpass
Station statistics
Address Washington Street and Hyde Park Avenue, Jamaica Plain
Lines
Platforms 2 island platforms (1 for each service)
Tracks 2 (Orange Line)
4 (Commuter Rail)
Parking 206 spaces, 5 accessbile, $4.00 fee
Bicycle facilities 31 spaces
Other information
Opened 1909 as original elevated station (closed 1987 when Elevated Line was demolished)
Rebuilt May 4, 1987 as part of Orange Line realignment
Accessible
Owned by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station
Needham Line
Terminus Orange Line
toward Oak Grove

Forest Hills Station is a station on the MBTA Orange Line, located in Forest Hills in the southern part of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts at the intersections of Washington Street, Hyde Park Avenue, South Street, The Arborway and Morton Street.

Forest Hills is the southern terminus of the MBTA Orange Line. It serves nearby residential neighborhoods and is also a major bus transfer station with connections to 14 routes. Commuter trains on the MBTA's Needham Line line also serve the station; trains on the Providence/Stoughton Line and the Franklin Line pass the platform but do not stop. Amtrak Acela Express and Northeast Regional trains also pass without stopping, generally on the two non-platform tracks.

The adjacent Arborway Station was the terminus of the Green Line "E" Branch until 1985, when service on the "E" branch was "temporarily" suspended at Heath Street. Restoration of Green Line trolley service to Arborway is part of remediation for the Big Dig, but the MBTA has been reluctant to restore the service.[1] The original Forest Hills station on the Washington Street Elevated was located one block to the east.

Contents

Facilities

Several small retailers are located in the station, including a donut/coffee shop, newspaper stand and florist. During warmer months a farmer's stand is set up. In addition the station features an MBTA Police substation.

Park and ride parking spaces for 206 cars are available on the station grounds. Overnight parking is not allowed.

Attractions

The station is surrounded by large parks, to the north of the station is Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum, one end of Boston's Emerald Necklace of parks. To the south is the Forest Hills Cemetery and Franklin Park. The station also marks the southern end of the linear Southwest Corridor Park, built over and around the Southwest Corridor which carries Amtrak, commuter rail, and Orange Line trains into center Boston.

Architecture

The station was designed by Cambridge Seven Associates constructed of brick, steel and glass, the architecture is meant to reflect the greenhouses of the surrounding parks. The station's clock tower has become a local landmark.

MBTA Bus Connections

Forest Hills serves as a major bus transfer station; 18 routes terminate at the station. The streetcar loops, formerly used for Green Line "E" Branch trolley service, now serve as a busway.

Accessibility

The station is fully wheelchair accessible.

Gallery

References

  1. ^ The Arborway Committee Accessed 17 August 2011.

External links