Babcock Street station

Babcock Street station is a light rail stop on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line B branch, located in the median of Commonwealth Avenue in the west part of the Boston University campus. The accessible station has two side platforms serving the line's two tracks, with access at Babcock Street and Pleasant Street.

Babcock Street
An inbound train at Babcock Street station in December 2021
General information
Location	Commonwealth Avenue at Babcock Street Boston, Massachusetts, US
Coordinates	42°21′06″N 71°07′12″W / 42.3516°N 71.1199°W / 42.3516; -71.1199Coordinates: 42°21′06″N 71°07′12″W / 42.3516°N 71.1199°W / 42.3516; -71.1199
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	MBTA bus: 57, 57A, 193
Construction
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	May 18, 1896 (1896-05-18)
Rebuilt	1970s; November 15, 2021
Passengers
2011	Weekday average boardings:^[1] Babcock Street: 1,387 Pleasant Street: 1,167
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station Packards Corner toward Boston College Green Line B branch Amory Street toward Government Center
Former services Preceding station MBTA Following station Packards Corner toward Watertown Green Line A branch Pleasant Street toward Park Street
Location

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

 

A streetcar at Pleasant Street in 1968

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

 

A train at Babcock Street in 2019

In 2014, the MBTA began planning to consolidate four stops – Boston University West, St. Paul Street, Pleasant Street, and Babcock Street – located near Boston University's West Campus. The four stops, which were not accessible, were to be turned into two fully accessible stops as part of a reconfiguration of Commonwealth Avenue between the Boston University Bridge and Packard's Corner.^[18][19] Pleasant Street and Babcock Street stations would be consolidated into one station in the block between the two streets.^[20] Work was delayed by the need to complete other roadwork on Commonwealth Avenue.^[21]

The MBTA awarded a $17.8 million construction contract on March 23, 2020.^[3] Construction was set to last from February 2021 to early 2022, with night and weekend bustitution (replacement with bus service) for much of 2021.^[2] In February 2021, the MBTA announced that the new stop replacing Babcock Street and Pleasant Street would be named Babcock Street.^[22] Pleasant Street station permanently closed on February 26, 2021, so that construction of the replacement station could begin.^[2] Buses replaced rail service between Washington Street and Kenmore from April 17 to May 9 and May 17 to June 13, 2021, allowing for construction of the new platforms and canopy steelwork.^[23][24] On July 30, 2021, two westbound trains collided next to the under-construction station, causing 25 injuries.^[25]

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

1. "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.
2. "B Branch Station Consolidation Project: Virtual Public Meeting" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. January 28, 2021.
3. "FMCB Awards $17.8 Million for B Branch Station Consolidation Work" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. March 23, 2020.
4. 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.
5. "New Electric Line". The Boston Globe. April 9, 1895. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.  
6. Clarke, Bradley H.; Cummings, O.R. (1997). Tremont Street Subway: A Century of Public Service. Boston Street Railway Association. ISBN 0938315048.
7. "Subway Notice". The Boston Globe. November 6, 1897. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.  
8. "To Watertown Car Barn". The Boston Globe. December 7, 1912. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.  
9. "Handling Traffic at Largest Baseball Park". Electric Railway Journal. Vol. 46, no. 13. September 25, 1915. p. 621 – via Internet Archive.
10. Clarke, Bradley H. (2003). Streetcar Lines of the Hub – The 1940s. Boston Street Railway Association. ISBN 0938315056.
11. Clarke, Bradley H. (2015). Streetcar Lines of the Hub: Boston's MTA Through Riverside and Beyond. Boston Street Railway Association. ISBN 9780938315070.
12. "For Braves Field and Lechmere Sq". Boston Globe. September 2, 1921. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Dana Outlines New Elevated Plan". Boston Globe. June 26, 1922. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
14. Cheney, Frank; Sammarco, Anthony M. (1997). Trolleys Under the Hub. Arcadia Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 0752409077.
15. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
16. 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.
17. Sindel, David A. (June 2017). Strategies for meeting future capacity needs on the light rail MBTA Green Line (Thesis). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. hdl:1721.1/111263.
18. "Comm. Ave. Green Line Improvements Public Meeting" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. October 16, 2014.
19. Brown, Joel (November 3, 2016). "Comm Ave Remake Kicks Off". BU Today. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
20. O'Rourke, John (October 23, 2014). "T May Eliminate Two Green Line B Stops". BU Today. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
21. 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.
22. "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.
23. "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.
24. "B Branch Accelerated Work 100% Complete" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. June 14, 2021.
25. Crimaldi, Laura (July 31, 2021). "NTSB investigating Green Line crash that left 25 injured; MBTA operator placed on leave". The Boston Globe.
26. "New Babcock Street and Amory Street Stations Open November 15" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. November 12, 2021.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Babcock Street station.

• MBTA – Babcock Street
• MBTA Stop Consolidation Project