Beaconsfield station (MBTA)

Beaconsfield
Beaconsfield
	Facing inbound at Beaconsfield station in November 2015
General information
Location	Beaconsfield Road east of Dean Road; Brookline, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°20′09″N71°08′26″W / 42.33583°N 71.14056°W
Line(s)	Highland branch
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Parking	11 spaces
Bicycle facilities	8 spaces
Accessible	No
History
Opened	February 1, 1907 (original station); July 4, 1959 (modern station)
Closed	May 31, 1958
Passengers
2011	1,075
Services
Former services
Location

Last updated December 03, 2023

Beaconsfield is an MBTA light rail station in Brookline, Massachusetts. It serves the Green Line D branch. It is located off Dean Road and Beaconsfield Road just south of Beacon Street. Like the other stops on the line, it was a commuter rail station on the Boston and Albany Railroad's Highland branch until 1958, when the line was closed and converted to a branch of what is now the Green Line. The station reopened along with the rest of the line in 1959.^[1]

Beaconsfield is not accessible, as the low platforms do not permit level boarding. Beaconsfield station is located one block from Dean Road station on the C branch of the Green Line, offering an easy transfer point. The interchange is outside of fare control; passengers must still pay a second fare.

History

B&A station

The Boston and Worcester Railroad opened a 1.4-mile (2.3 km) branch from Brookline Junction to Brookline on April 10, 1848.^[2] The Charles River Branch Railroad extended the Brookline branch to Newton Upper Falls in November 1852 and to Needham in June 1853.^[2]^[4] The Boston and Albany Railroad bought back the line, then part of the New York and New England Railroad, in February 1883. It was double-tracked and extended to the B&A main at Riverside; "Newton Circuit" service via the Highland branch and the main line began on May 16, 1886.^[2]

There was not originally a station on the line at Dean Road. In late 1906, transit magnate Henry Melville Whitney built a new station to serve his nearby Beaconsfield Hotel.^[5] Work on the station began in October 1906 by the firm of Benjamin Fox. It was constructed in a heavy stone style similar to the Richardsonian Romanesque stations constructed elsewhere on the B&A system in the previous two decades.^[6]^[7] By November, the masonry was largely complete, the roof ready for tile, and the granolithic floor and 330-foot (100 m) platform ready to be poured.^[8] The platform was poured in December 1906.^[9] The new station opened on February 1, 1907.^[10]

Conversion to light rail service

In June 1957, the Massachusetts Legislature approved the purchase of the branch by the M.T.A. from the nearly-bankrupt New York Central Railroad for conversion to a trolley line. Service ended on May 31, 1958.^[2] The line was quickly converted for trolley service, and the line including Beaconsfield station reopened on July 4, 1959.^[1] The 1906-built station was torn down to build a parking lot; a small wooden shelter was built on the inbound platform.

The M.T.A. was folded into the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in August 1964.^[1] The station has not been substantially modified during the MBTA era, though a heated shelter for fare machines on the outbound side was added around 2006.

In 2019, the MBTA indicated that the four remaining non-accessible stops on the D branch were "Tier I" accessibility priorities.^[11] A preliminary design contract for accessibility modifications at the four stations was issued in February 2021.^[12]^[13] The station platforms will be raised and rebuilt, the wood shelter repaired, and a path constructed under Dean Road to Waldstein Playground.^[14] Design reached 75% in June 2022 and was completed late that year.^[14]^[15]As of November 2023^[update], construction is expected to be advertised in early 2024 and begin midyear.^[16]

Related Research Articles

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Chestnut Hill station is a light rail station on the MBTA Green Line D branch, located off Hammond Street north of Massachusetts Route 9 in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Newton, Massachusetts. The station has two side platforms serving the line's two tracks. Chestnut Hill station is not accessible, but renovations are planned.

References

1 2 3 4 Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
1 2 3 4 5 Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. pp. 21–24. ISBN 9780685412947.
↑ "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.
↑ Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. pp. 277, 288–289. ISBN 0942147022.
↑ "Vacation Notes". The Independent. 62: lvib. 1907.
↑ "New Station Called The Beaconsfield". The Boston Globe. January 5, 1907. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "New Engineering Work". Monthly Bulletin. Boston Society of Civil Engineers: 11. October 1906 – via Internet Archive.
↑ "New Engineering Work". Monthly Bulletin. Boston Society of Civil Engineers: 15. November 1906 – via Internet Archive.
↑ "New Engineering Work". Monthly Bulletin. Boston Society of Civil Engineers: 11. December 1906 – via Internet Archive.
↑ "New Station Opens Today". The Boston Globe. February 1, 1907. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Preview of 2019 Recommendations: Presentation to the FMCB" (PDF). Plan for Accessible Transit Infrastructure (PATI). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. April 1, 2019. p. 12.
↑ "D Branch Station Accessibility Improvements". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on March 19, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
↑ "D Branch Station Accessibility Improvements: Waban, Eliot, Chestnut Hill, Beaconsfield: Virtual Public Meeting" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. April 29, 2021.
1 2 "D Branch Station Accessibility Improvements: Beaconsfield, Chestnut Hill, Eliot, Waban: Public Meeting" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. June 23, 2022.
↑ "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—December 2022" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. December 6, 2022. p. 4.
↑ "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—November 2023" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. November 27, 2023. pp. 3–4.

External links

MBTA - Beaconsfield
Google Maps Street View: Beaconsfield Road entrance, Dean Road entrance, Clark Road entrance

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[netransit-1] 1 2 3 4 Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.

[150years-2] 1 2 3 4 5 Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. pp. 21–24. ISBN 9780685412947.

[bluebook-3] "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.

[sne-4] Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. pp. 277, 288–289. ISBN 0942147022.

[5] "Vacation Notes". The Independent. 62: lvib. 1907.

[6] "New Station Called The Beaconsfield". The Boston Globe. January 5, 1907. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] "New Engineering Work". Monthly Bulletin. Boston Society of Civil Engineers: 11. October 1906 – via Internet Archive.

[8] "New Engineering Work". Monthly Bulletin. Boston Society of Civil Engineers: 15. November 1906 – via Internet Archive.

[9] "New Engineering Work". Monthly Bulletin. Boston Society of Civil Engineers: 11. December 1906 – via Internet Archive.

[10] "New Station Opens Today". The Boston Globe. February 1, 1907. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.

[11] "Preview of 2019 Recommendations: Presentation to the FMCB" (PDF). Plan for Accessible Transit Infrastructure (PATI). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. April 1, 2019. p. 12.

[12] "D Branch Station Accessibility Improvements". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on March 19, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.

[13] "D Branch Station Accessibility Improvements: Waban, Eliot, Chestnut Hill, Beaconsfield: Virtual Public Meeting" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. April 29, 2021.

[june2022-14] 1 2 "D Branch Station Accessibility Improvements: Beaconsfield, Chestnut Hill, Eliot, Waban: Public Meeting" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. June 23, 2022.

[swadec2022-15] "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—December 2022" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. December 6, 2022. p. 4.

[swanov2023-16] "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—November 2023" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. November 27, 2023. pp. 3–4.

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