North Station

NORTH STATION
NORTH STATION
NORTH STATION

The waiting area at North Station
Station statistics
Address 126 Causeway Street
Boston, MA 02114
Lines

Amtrak:

MBTA Commuter Rail:

MBTA Subway

  Green Line "C" and "E" branch
Connections MBTA bus 4
Platforms 5 island platforms (Commuter Rail and Amtrak; only 4 active)
2 side platforms and 1 island platform (Orange Line and Green Line)
Tracks 12 (Commuter Rail and Amtrak; only 10 active)
2 (Orange Line)
2 (Green Line)
Parking 1275 spaces (privately owned garage)
Bicycle facilities bike lockers, connection to Boston Harbor Walk and Charles River Dam
Other information
Opened September 3, 1898 (Green Line surface, closed 1997)
June 1, 1912 (Green Line elevated, closed June 2004)
April 7, 1975 (Orange Line)
1995 (Commuter rail and Amtrak)
Rebuilt June 28, 2004 (Green Line)
November 2005
Accessible
Code BON (Amtrak)
Owned by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Traffic
Passengers (1997) 3.436 million  0% (MBTA subway)
Passengers (2011) 456,198[1]  8.9% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station
Terminus Downeaster
toward Portland
MBTA Commuter Rail
toward Fitchburg
Fitchburg Line Terminus
Terminus Lowell Line
toward Lowell
Haverhill Line
toward Haverhill
Haverhill Line
rush hours only
toward Haverhill
Newburyport/Rockport Line
MBTA Subway
Green Line
toward Lechmere
Green Line Terminus
Orange Line
toward Oak Grove
Location

North Station is a major transportation hub located at Causeway and Nashua Streets in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the city's two terminals for Amtrak and MBTA commuter trains, the other being South Station. The main concourse of North Station is located at the street level, immediately below TD Garden, a major sports venue in Boston, and home of the Boston Bruins hockey team and the Boston Celtics basketball team. The indoor sports arena is also used for rock concerts and other events, taking advantage of the extensive transportation connections at the site.

Contents

Description

North Station facilities include:

In November 2005, the MBTA completed construction of its "North Station Superstation" project, which placed the Green Line underground, offering inbound cross-platform transfers from Green to Orange Lines. Outbound Green Line trains arrive on the mezzanine level, still within fare control. The project was done primarily to improve transfer between the two lines but also to tear down the old elevated North Station Green Line stop and the old Causeway Street Elevated structure.

In April 2006, the MBTA announced plans to enlarge the cramped waiting area at the station by building over the south end of the tracks and platforms. The expansion was substantially completed by the end of January, 2007 and was paid for by Delaware North Companies, owners of the TD Garden, who struck a deal for sharing revenue from concessions and advertising with the MBTA.

Several MBTA commuter rail lines, plus Amtrak's Northeast Corridor service to New York City, Washington, D.C. and beyond, originate from South Station, about 1-1/4 miles around the Boston peninsula from North Station. No direct link exists between the two stations although MBTA subway connections are available. Transfers to Amtrak and the MBTA Commuter Rail's Providence/Stoughton, Needham, Franklin, and Framingham/Worcester Lines may also be made at Back Bay, a one seat ride on the Orange Line from North Station. Additionally, transfers from the Fitchburg Line to the South Station lines can be made at Porter, a one seat ride on the Red Line. A North-South Rail Link is proposed to link North and South Stations, but as of May 2006 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has withdrawn its sponsorship of the proposal due to its high cost.

Of the eleven Amtrak stations in Massachusetts, North Station was the third busiest in FY2010, behind only South Station and Back Bay Station, boarding or detraining an average of approximately 1,150 passengers daily.[3] It is one of the twenty-five busiest stations in the Amtrak system.

History

Before North Union Station opened on the spot in 1893, there were four separate stations in the area:

Just south of North Station was the Canal Street Incline through which the Green Line and Orange Line originally went from elevated to subway. The original North Union Station was demolished in 1928 to make way for the Boston Garden, which included a new North Station as part of the design. This was in turn replaced by the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in 1995, which also necessitated a redesigned North Station. The waiting area was originally very limited, but this was rectified by an expansion completed in 2007 which greatly enlarged it. The redesigned station was built for 12 tracks, but only 10 are in service.

Gallery

Green Line timeline

This timeline shows which Green Line services terminated at North Station at which times (after 1940).


Nearby destinations

Bus connections

Accessibility

See also

References

External links