North Station

NORTH STATION NORTH STATION NORTH STATION
MBTA Commuter and Amtrak Downeaster trains at North Station
Location	126 Causeway Street Boston, MA 02114
Coordinates	42°21′57″N 71°03′40″W / 42.3657°N 71.061°W / 42.3657; -71.061Coordinates: 42°21′57″N 71°03′40″W / 42.3657°N 71.061°W / 42.3657; -71.061
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Amtrak:   Downeaster MBTA Commuter Rail:   Fitchburg Line   Haverhill Line   Lowell Line   Newburyport/Rockport Line MBTA Subway   Green Line "C" and "E" branch, Terminus for "D" line during non peak hours   Orange Line
Platforms	6 island platforms (Commuter Rail and Amtrak; only 5 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)
Connections	MBTA Bus: 4
Construction
Parking	1275 spaces (privately owned garage)
Bicycle facilities	bike lockers, connection to Boston Harbor Walk and Charles River Dam
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	BON (Amtrak)
History
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
Traffic
Passengers (2013 daily)	17,079[1] (MBTA subway)
Passengers (2013 daily)	28,325[1] (MBTA Commuter Rail)
Passengers (2013)	475,447[2]  0.3% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Terminus Downeaster Woburn–Anderson toward Brunswick, ME MBTA Commuter Rail Porter toward Fitchburg Fitchburg Line Terminus Terminus Lowell Line West Medford toward Lowell Haverhill Line Malden Center toward Haverhill Haverhill Line rush hours only West Medford toward Haverhill Newburyport/Rockport Line Chelsea toward Newburyport or Rockport MBTA Subway Haymarket toward Heath Street Green Line "E" Branch Science Park toward Lechmere Haymarket toward Cleveland Circle Green Line "C" Branch Terminus Haymarket toward Forest Hills Orange Line Community College toward Oak Grove
Location

North Station is a major transportation hub located at Causeway and Nashua Streets in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. 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.

Description

North Station facilities include:

• Terminus for MBTA Commuter Rail northern routes and Amtrak's Downeaster service
• Station on the Boston subway's Orange Line and Green Line
• Local bus service
• Water taxi service at nearby Lovejoy Wharf^[3]
• Staffed ticket windows
• Small food court and waiting area
• Direct access to adjacent TD Garden for sporting and other events
• Parking garage (privately operated)

Several MBTA commuter rail lines, plus Amtrak's Northeast Corridor service to New York City, Philadelphia, 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.

History

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

• The Boston and Maine Railroad terminal was just north of Haymarket Square, between Canal Street and Haverhill Street, stretching most of the way to Traverse Street. This approach was later used by the Green Line and Orange Line. The other three were all on the north side of Causeway Street, with the first two in the area where North Station is now.
• The Boston and Lowell Railroad terminal was on the east side of Nashua Street, stretching east for about a block.
• Next was the Eastern Railroad terminal, across Causeway Street from Friend Street.
• The Fitchburg Railroad station was on the other side of the Boston and Maine Railroad approach, right next to Beverly Street, the approach to the Warren Bridge.

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.

In 1959, a bomb placed in a locker blew up the elevated Orange Line Station, killing one MTA worker. Operations were suspended the rest of the day, and the track was up and running the next day, contrary to what most people expected. Further bomb threats were phoned in, but no further bombs were found.^[4]

In November 2005, the MBTA completed construction of its "North Station Superstation" project, which placed the Green Line underground, offering inbound cross-platform transfers between the Green and 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 in the aboveground portion of 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. The redesigned station was built for 12 tracks, but only 10 are in service as of 2013.

Former interstate service

Until the 1960s the station was the hub for long-distance Boston and Maine service to multiple locales north and west of Boston, usually in conjunction with other railroads. Service cutbacks began in the 1950s until service dwindled down to commuter rail operations. The last interstate routes after 1965 were single daily round trips to Concord and Dover, New Hampshire which lasted until June 30, 1967.^[5] By this point the interstate train itineraries consisted of self-propelled Budd Rail Diesel Cars, often just one or two cars for the trip.

Limited service to Concord was run from January 28, 1980 to March 1, 1981 as part of a federally funded experiment.^[5]

Name	Final B & M station at peak level	Partner railroad in continuing joint train service	Final destination	Year discontinued
The Minute Man	Troy, New York via Fitchburg and Greenfield	New York Central	Chicago, Illinois	1960
The Cheshire	Bellows Falls, Vermont via Fitchburg and Keene	-	-	1958
Green Mountain Flyer	Bellows Falls	Rutland Railway	Burlington, Vermont, Montreal, Quebec	1953
The Ambassador[6]	White River Junction, Vermont via Lowell, Massachusetts and Concord, New Hampshire	Central Vermont Railway	Essex Junction, Vermont, Montreal	1965
Alouette[7]	Wells River, Vermont via Lowell, Massachusetts and Concord, New Hampshire	Canadian Pacific Railway	Montreal	1965
Flying Yankee	Portland, Maine via Dover	Maine Central Railroad	Bangor Union Station	1957
Aroostook Flyer	Portland, Maine	Maine Central Railroad Bangor and Aroostook Railroad	Bangor, Maine, Presque Isle, Maine	1961
The Gull[7]	Portland	Maine Central Railroad Canadian Pacific Railway Canadian National Railway	Halifax, Nova Scotia via St. John, New Brunswick	1960

Green Line timeline

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

Nearby destinations

• Boston's TD Garden (formerly the FleetCenter), home of the Boston Bruins hockey and Boston Celtics basketball teams, which is directly above North Station.
• Sports and ethnic bars and restaurants along Causeway Street
• Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Federal Building
• Boston's North End, a neighborhood with a wide variety of restaurants, Old North Church, and Paul Revere's house.

Bus connections

• 4 North Station - World Trade Center via Federal Courthouse & South Station
• EZRide Cambridge

Accessibility

North Station is wheelchair accessible on all modes. There is a cross-platform connection between the inbound Orange Line and the inbound Green Line; transferring in other directions is accessible but requires the use of elevators. All other Orange Line stations are accessible as well, but not all Green Line stations are wheelchair accessible.

Most major stations on the MBTA Commuter Rail routes are accessible with full-length high or mini-high platforms, but some stations are not accessible. All Downeaster stations are accessible with high platforms or low platforms with wheelchair lifts.

See also

• North Union Station (1893–1927)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: North Station (Boston) or North Station (MBTA station)

• Amtrak – Stations – Boston North Station
• MBTA Boston North Station
  • Commuter Rail Lines
  • Green and Orange Lines
• Elaborate Union (North) Station facade, circa 1890.
• Boston North Amtrak Station (USA RailGuide -- TrainWeb)
• Causeway Street and Accolyn Way entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Commuter Rail and Amtrak platforms from Google Maps Street View
• Boston-North Station, MA (BON) (Amtrak's Great American Stations)

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Subway lines (List of stations) Heavy rail      Blue      Orange      Red Light rail      Green "B" Branch "C" Branch "D" Branch "E" Branch      Ashmont–Mattapan      Commuter Rail lines (List of stations) North Station lines Fitchburg Haverhill (Wildcat Branch) Lowell Newburyport/Rockport South Station lines Fairmount Framingham/Worcester Franklin Greenbush Needham Old Colony (Kingston/Plymouth Middleborough/Lakeville      CapeFLYER) Providence/Stoughton Bus routes (List of routes)      Silver Crosstown routes Key routes Trackless trolleys Routes East Boston, Chelsea, Revere Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield South Boston Other services      Boat The Ride Component parts of system lines      Boylston Street Subway      Haymarket North Extension      Lechmere Viaduct      Tremont Street Subway      Washington Street Subway Under construction           Government Center closure      Green Line Extension      South Coast Rail      Wachusett extension Proposed      Lynn extension           Red Line—Blue Line Connector Urban Ring Project      North–South Rail Link      Plaistow extension      Nashua extension      Westerly extension      Indigo Line (Fairmount Grand Junction Track 61) History Predecessor companies Boston Elevated Railway Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Middlesex and Boston Street Railway Newton and Boston Street Railway Former lines      Atlantic Avenue Elevated      Causeway Street Elevated      Charlestown Elevated      Green Line "A" Branch      Lexington Branch Streetcar lines      Washington Street Elevated      Woburn Loop      History of the Green Line Other Accessibility Arts on the Line "Charlie on the M.T.A." CharlieCard Police Nomenclature Yards and maintenance facilities

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