Yawkey (MBTA station)

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YAWKEY

Nearly-complete rebuilt Yawkey station in December 2013
Station statistics
Address 85 Brookline Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°20′51″N 71°06′02″W / 42.3476°N 71.1006°W / 42.3476; -71.1006Coordinates: 42°20′51″N 71°06′02″W / 42.3476°N 71.1006°W / 42.3476; -71.1006
Line(s)
  Framingham/Worcester Line
Connections At Kenmore: MBTA Green Line
MBTA Bus: 8, 57, 60, 65
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 2
Other information
Opened April 29, 1988[1]
Rebuilt February 2014 (planned)[2]
Accessible
Fare zone 1A
Traffic
Passengers (2007)585 daily[3]
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station
toward Worcester
 Framingham/Worcester Line
2014 (planned)
toward Worcester

Yawkey is a passenger rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Framingham/Worcester Line, located in the Fenway-Kenmore section of Boston, Massachusetts near Kenmore Square. The station sits below grade between Beacon Street and Brookline Avenue, next to the Massachusetts Turnpike. Yawkey station was originally opened in 1988 for limited service to Boston Red Sox games at Fenway Park. Regular commuter service began in 2001 for riders headed to Boston University, Kenmore Square, and the Longwood Medical and Academic Area. Yawkey station is fully handicapped accessible.

Inbound and outbound trains formerly shared a single two-car platform on the inbound track, requiring Yawkey passengers to embark or debark from the front two cars of outbound trains or the rear two cars of inbound trains. In 2012, work began on a new station, which includes two longer high-level platforms and an overhead pedestrian bridge, which will eventually allow direct access from the Beacon Street and Brookline Avenue overpasses through the planned Fenway Center development. Passengers currently board from the east end of the new station; after delays, it is expected to open fully in February 2014.[2] The new station will be served by all Worcester Line trains; it is expected to increase ridership at Yawkey from 585 to 937 daily passengers.[3]

History

Old "mini-high" platform at Yawkey in 2011 (removed in 2013)

Game day service

Yawkey was opened on April 29, 1988, and initially was only used for special service to Fenway Park to and from Boston Red Sox games. It was used for Framingham Line trains as well as special "Fenway Flyer" baseball trains from the Attleboro (now Providence/Stoughton) and Franklin lines; such trains had an annual ridership of 58,000 in 1990.[4] The station became popular enough that the MBCR added regular commuter service. This largely obviated the need for "Fenway Flyer" specials, though certain weekend Providence trains ran to Yawkey as late as 2007.[5] Similar special trains continue to serve Foxboro station during football and soccer games and special events at Gillette Stadium.[6]

The 1988-built Yawkey station was one of the first MBTA Commuter Rail stations to be built with a mini-high platform for handicapped accessibility.[citation needed]

Regular service

In early 2000, the MBTA released a study which analyzed the possibility of full-time commuter service to Yawkey. An addendum released in August 2000 analyzed increased service (on all modes) to Fenway Park on game days. Possibilities studied included running game day service from the Plymouth/Kingston Line with an unused trainset, a South Station-Yawkey shuttle, increased Green Line service, and bus shuttles to the Red Line in Cambridge and to Ruggles. Consideration was given to building a dedicated terminal spur and station on the remains of the former Highland Branch.[7]

Regular weekday commuter service to the station began on January 2, 2001, with 4 daily round trips, though weekend service was initially limited to game days.[1][8] Regular weekend service was added on April 30, 2001.[1] From 2001 to 2014, not all trains stop at the station; most peak-direction trains stopped, but many off-peak trains did not. Before the rebuilding began in 2012, some trains stopped at Yawkey only on game days during the Red Sox season.[9]

Platforms under construction in December 2012

New station

Elevator shafts under construction in March 2013
The second track was relaid through the station in September 2013

In August 2007, the MBTA published a feasibility study exploring the possibility of rebuilding Yawkey as a full-service station.[10] The study concluded that doing so would increase ridership by 60%, from 585 daily boardings and alightings to 937.[3] On November 15, 2010, Governor Deval Patrick and other officials broke ground on a major rebuilding of the station, originally expected to be completed in the spring of 2012.[11] The new station will have two full-length high-level platforms that provide level, handicapped-accessible boarding for all passengers; the old platform had only a wooden ramp for accessibility. The two 700-foot-long platforms (a side platform between the tracks plus a side platform on the south side of the tracks) will be connected with an overpass, and passengers will no longer have to cross the tracks to access certain outbound trains.[12][13] Projected stopping service is to increase from 17 to 40 trains per day.[11] The new station, projected to cost $13.5 million, will be powered entirely by solar panels located on the roof of the pedestrian bridge.[11]

The rebuilt station is to be the first component of a larger, mostly private development called Fenway Center. Although the developer, Meredith Corporation, wished to close the station during rebuilding, the MBCR elected to keep it open.[14][15] Fenway Center, which is to be built on the air rights over the adjacent Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90), will eventually cover much of the station.[12] As part of the development, walkways will be built above the station, allowing passengers to walk directly to the pedestrian bridge and platforms from Beacon Street and Brookline Avenue rather than passing through private parking lots. After lengthy negotiations, an air-rights deal between the city and the developer regarding Fenway Center was reached in May 2013.[16]

The Framingham/Worcester line schedule was changed slightly in April 2012 to allow for temporary single-tracking through the station for construction.[17] Actual station construction activity started in June 2012, and in August one track was cut, reducing the line to one track through the station. The platforms were installed in late November 2012; construction of the elevator shafts began in February 2013. A temporary ramp opened in June 2013 for passengers to use the east end of the future outbound platform; the old platform was demolished soon afterwards to make room for the west ends of the new platforms. The pedestrian bridge was lifted into place in August 2013, followed by the various roof and canopy elements. The second track was rebuilt in late September, followed by the remaining platform segments.

The new station is expected to fully open in February 2014, coinciding with planned service increases on the Framingham/Worcester Line.[2] The opening was planned for January 13, then January 27, but was delayed due to problems with the Yawkey elevators and adjustments to the schedule based on public comment.[18][19][20]

Accessibility

The new station, seen here in July 2013, will have high-level platforms for handicapped accessibility
See also: MBTA accessibility

The existing station is accessible, with a wheelchair ramp to a 2-car-length platform. The new station (which is currently under construction) will be fully accessible, with two high-level platforms and elevators to cross from one track to another.

Future plans

Yawkey Station was a proposed stop on the MBTA's proposed Urban Ring Project.[21] The Urban Ring was to be a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line designed to connect the current MBTA Lines to reduce strain on the downtown stations. Under the most recent plan, the Urban Ring would access Fenway via Mountfort Street to the north and a new tunnel paralleling the Green Line "D" Branch to the southwest, with a turnoff and station at Overland Street.[22] The Urban Ring project is currently shelved due to the MBTA's financial difficulties.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Belcher, Jonathan (31 December 2011). "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit. Retrieved 18 March 2012. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Monahan, John J. (22 January 2014). "MBTA promises more Worcester-Boston trains by end of February". Worcester Telegram. Retrieved 23 January 2014. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Tetra Tech (10 August 2012). "Boston University Charles River Campus Transportation Master Plan". Boston University. p. 51. Retrieved 16 November 2012. 
  4. ↑ Middleton, William D. (1 November 1991). "How MBTA rebuilt ridership" 192 (11). Railway Age. p. 33. Retrieved 22 January 2014 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required (help)). 
  5. ↑ "Providence/Stoughton Line Schedule". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 30 April 2007. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2014. 
  6. ↑ "Riding the T > Patriots". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Retrieved 3 August 2011. 
  7. ↑ KKO and Associates (August 2000). "Fenway Park Game Day Service Improvement Study". Feasibility of Full-Time Commuter Rail Service to the Fenway/Kenmore Area (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority). 
  8. ↑ "New Buses, Weekly Passes Highlight Recent MBTA Improvements". TRANSreport. Boston Metropolitan Regional Planning Organization. February 2001. Retrieved 29 December 2012. 
  9. ↑ "Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Commuter Rail Executive Summary". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Retrieved 3 December 2012. 
  10. ↑ Edwards & Kelcey, Inc. et al (August 2007). "MBTA Yawkey Station Feasibility Study". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Retrieved 16 November 2013. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Briefing:Yawkey Way Commuter Rail". Worcester Business Journal. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2011. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Richards Barry Joyce and Partners. "Fenway Center". Meredith Corporation. Retrieved 3 September 2012. 
  13. ↑ Rocheleau, Matt (24 July 2013). "MBTA: $14.9m redesign of Yawkey commuter rail station to be finished this fall". Boston Globe. Retrieved 24 July 2013. 
  14. ↑ Grillo, Thomas (2 July 2010). "Developer tells T: Fast-track Yawkey plan". Boston Herald. Retrieved 19 July 2011. 
  15. ↑ "Yawkey Station Construction". MASCO. Retrieved 18 March 2012. 
  16. ↑ Ross, Casey (13 May 2013). "Patrick administration, developer John Rosenthal strike air rights deal for Fenway Center over Mass. Pike". Boston Globe. Retrieved 11 September 2013. 
  17. ↑ Graham, Melanie (26 March 2012). "Framingham/Worcester Commuter Rail Schedule Changes Start April 2". Framingham Patch. Retrieved 12 July 2012. 
  18. ↑ "Worcester Line Train Times Effective January 13, 2014". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 13 January 2014. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014. 
  19. ↑ "Important Update Regarding the Worcester Line Schedule Change" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014. "Due to a delay in the opening of Yawkey Station, the newly revised Worcester schedule will now go into effect on Monday, January 27, 2014." 
  20. ↑ Kush, Bronislaus B. (8 January 2014). "MBTA adding trains on Worcester commuter line". Worcester Telegram. Retrieved 8 January 2014. 
  21. ↑ "Urban Ring Phase 2 FACT SHEET". January 2009. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2012. 
  22. ↑ "The Urban Ring Phase 2: Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report/Statement". Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. November 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2011. 

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