Downtown Crossing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Summer Street at Washington Street Boston, Massachusetts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 42°21′19″N71°03′38″W / 42.35536°N 71.06068°W | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line(s) | Washington Street Tunnel Cambridge-Dorchester Tunnel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Platforms | 2 side platforms (Orange Line) 2 side platforms (Red Line) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tracks | 2 (Orange Line) 2 (Red Line) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Connections | MBTA bus: 7, 11, 501, 504, 505 Green Line and MBTA bus 43 at Park Street (via Winter Street Concourse) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Structure type | Underground | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Platform levels | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | November 30, 1908 (Orange Line) April 4, 1915 (Red Line) July 24, 2002 (Silver Line) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Previous names | Washington (Red Line, 1915–1987; Orange Line, 1967–1987) Winter–Summer (Orange Line, 1908–1967) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FY2019 | 24,074 (weekday average boardings) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Downtown Crossing station (often known as DTX [2] ) is an underground Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) rapid transit station located in the Downtown Crossing retail district in the downtown core of Boston, Massachusetts. It is served by the Orange Line and Red Line, and is one of four "hub stations" on the MBTA subway system. Downtown Crossing is also a major bus transfer location serving 13 MBTA bus routes, including one Silver Line route. It is the second busiest subway station in the MBTA network (behind only South Station), with an average of 24,074 entries per weekday in FY2019. [1]
The Washington Street Tunnel carrying the Main Line (later the Orange Line) opened in 1908, with platforms called Summer and Winter. The Dorchester Tunnel carrying the Cambridge–Dorchester Line (now the Red Line) opened in 1915, with its station called Washington. The MBTA renamed the whole station complex as Washington in 1967, then Downtown Crossing in 1987. Major renovations took place in the 1970s and 1980s. Silver Line service began in 2002.
Downtown Crossing has two underground platform levels, each with two side platforms. The upper level serves the Orange Line and stretches from Temple Place to Franklin Street under Washington Street. A concourse from Washington Street to Chauncey Street under Summer Street includes entrances to several retail stores and formerly housed the Charliecard Store. The lower-level platforms, under the concourse, serve Red Line trains. The Winter Street Concourse, which connects to the southbound Orange Line platform, allows access to the Green Line at Park Street without leaving the common paid area.
Downtown Crossing is a terminal for several MBTA bus routes. Four routes – 7 , 501 , 504 , and 505 – stop on Otis Street at Summer Street, a short block east of the nearest subway entrance. Route 11 stops on Bedford Street at Kingston Street, an additional block to the south. Silver Line route SL5 serves Downtown Crossing at a midblock bus stop on Temple Place, half a block from the nearest subway entrance. [3]
Like all Orange Line and Red Line stations, Downtown Crossing is accessible. Surface elevators are located at the Winter Street, Franklin Street, and Hawley Street entrances. [4] An additional elevator – open business hours only – leads to the Roche Brothers store which connects to the Summer Street concourse. Because Downtown Crossing is an older station built at two different times in a dense urban area, transfers between the two lines are convoluted. There is no elevator between either of the Red Line platforms and the southbound Orange Line platform; passengers making such transfers must use the Winter Street Concourse and the Red Line elevators at Park Street.
The northbound Red Line platform has elevators at both ends of the Summer Street concourse for connections to the northbound Orange Line and to the street. The southbound Red Line platform only has an elevator at its far east end; passengers transferring to and from the northbound Orange Line must leave fare control at one end of the concourse and reenter at the other end.
A $13.57 million project added the two elevators connecting the northbound Orange Line platform to the northbound Red Line platform. Notice to proceed was given on February 18, 2016; completion was originally expected in late 2017, but delayed until June 14, 2019. [5] [6]
The $50 million Phase II will add an elevator between the northbound Orange Line and southbound Red Line platforms, enlarge and extend the elevator from Winter Street to the southbound Orange Line platform to also serve the southbound Red Line, and relocate the Red Line elevator at Park Street. A $6.9 million design contract was awarded in March 2020. [7] The Phase II improvements, which will complete elevator connections for all transfers, are part of the 2006 settlement of Joanne Daniels-Finegold, et al. v. MBTA . [8] Original plans in that settlement for an elevator between the northbound Red Line and southbound Orange Line were found to be infeasible; as part of a 2018 amendment to the settlement, the relocation of the Park Street elevator was substituted. [9] As of December 2024 [update] , design is complete for the three elevators, with bidding for the nearly-three-year construction project planned for early 2025. [10] [11] [12]
The Washington Street Tunnel carrying the Main Line Elevated (later the Orange Line) opened on November 30, 1908. [13] Stations on the tunnel were built in pairs with different names and separate entrances, an appeasement to merchants on the street who desired maximal pedestrian traffic. Stations were located at Summer northbound with entrances at Summer Street and Franklin Street, and Winter southbound with entrances at Winter Street and Temple Place. The Dorchester extension of the Cambridge Tunnel (now the Red Line) was built one level below the Washington Street Tunnel. Washington station opened on April 4, 1915, with additional entrances on Summer Street at Hawley Street and Chauncey Street. [13]
As part of a system-wide rebranding by the newly formed MBTA, on January 23, 1967, the Orange Line platforms were renamed Washington as well. [13] On May 3, 1987, the name was changed again to Downtown Crossing after the surrounding retail district, with Washington as a secondary name. [13] The renaming, which had been approved in 1985 as part of a series of station name changes, was coordinated with the opening of the Southwest Corridor. [14]
The 1970s saw the first major renovations to the station in decades. In 1972, the agency received a federal grant that funded two-thirds of a $14.3 million modernization program for downtown stations, including $2 million for Washington station. [15] As part of that project, the MBTA investigated the feasibility of connecting Essex, Park Street, Washington, and State with pedestrian tunnels. [16] The stairways between the Summer Street Concourse and the Orange Line platforms were reconfigured. [17]
The Franklin Street entrance was originally inside a building on the north side of the street. [18] The construction of the 350 Washington Street building beginning in 1965 demolished the older building and widened the street. [19] [20] A rebuilt entrance slightly to the north was incorporated into the new building. [21] It was later replaced by a freestanding headhouse, approximately at the original location, in Shopper's Park. The MBTA proposed to make the headhouse exit-only during budget cuts in 1981. [22] On August 10, 2015, the entrance was temporarily closed for construction of the Millennium Tower, which constructed a new sloping seating area over the entrance. [23] [24] [19] The renovated headhouse reopened on September 12, 2016. [25]
Originally, the Orange Line level had an underground concourse with several direct access points to basement entrances of various stores in the district, such as Jordan Marsh (now Macy's) and the former Filene's department store. It was modernized in 1978 with a new fare collection area added. [26] In 1979, the Winter Street Concourse was opened, connecting the upper level of Downtown Crossing station (inside fare control) to the upper level of Park Street station two blocks away, utilizing an existing but previously unopened section of the concourse. [27] Both levels of the station were substantially renovated and accessibility was improved in the mid-1980s. The 101 Arch Street building, completed in 1989, included access to the Summer Street concourse (including an elevator) through its basement level. [28] [29] By 1991, a 1914-installed wooden escalator in the station was the oldest operating escalator in the world. [30]
Modernization in the 1980s included the installation of Situations, a set of 31 skewed marble seats designed by Buster Simpson along the Red Line platform. [31] During the renovations, temporary artworks were displayed as part of the Arts on the Line program. One work on the Orange Line level, a take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers , featured 'alien' eggs that grew and eventually hatched 'aliens' portrayed by costumed actors. [32] In August 1987, the MBTA board approved plans for an MBTA Transit Police substation in the Summer Street Concourse. [33] The $950,000 substation opened on July 26, 1988. [34]
Silver Line service from Downtown Crossing to Dudley Square began on July 24, 2002. [13] The Temple Place exit from the southbound Orange Line platform was reopened to allow easier transfers. [35] It was converted to an entrance around 2007 when automated fare collection was installed at the station. [36] [37] On June 24, 2019, the MBTA Board awarded a $29.7 million, 16-month contract for full cleaning, wayfinding signage replacement, and other improvements at North Station, Haymarket, State, and Downtown Crossing stations. [38] The work was completed in June 2021. [39] [40] The entire Orange Line, including the Orange Line platforms at Downtown Crossing station, was closed from August 19 to September 18, 2022, during maintenance work. [41]
The MBTA began selling monthly passes in late 1978. A sales office for the passes was opened in the Summer Street concourse outside fare control on December 26, 1978. [26] On August 13, 2012, the MBTA merged reduced-fare ticketing customer services (formerly located in a booth at Back Bay station) and the pass sales counter into a new "CharlieCard Store" at the Downtown Crossing location. The store was located inside an air-conditioned room in the concourse. It provided services including obtaining special passes for blind, senior, disabled, and other users; transferring value between fare media; and conventional pass purchases. [42] [43] Due to unreliable computer systems and high demand, the store initially experienced long wait times. [44] The store was closed on July 17, 2023, due to an air conditioning failure; a temporary location opened on July 27 in the State Transportation Building. [45] The new permanent "Charlie Service Center" opened near State station on July 29, 2024. [46]
The Orange Line is a rapid transit line operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) as part of the MBTA subway system. The line runs south on the surface from Oak Grove station in Malden, Massachusetts through Malden and Medford, paralleling the Haverhill Line, then crosses the Mystic River on a bridge into Somerville, then into Charlestown. It passes under the Charles River and runs through Downtown Boston in the Washington Street Tunnel. The line returns to the surface in the South End, then follows the Southwest Corridor southwest in a cut through Roxbury and Jamaica Plain to Forest Hills station.
Park Street station is an MBTA subway station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located at the intersection of Park Street and Tremont Street at the eastern edge of Boston Common in Downtown Boston. One of the two oldest stations on the "T", and part of the oldest subway line in the United States, Park Street is the transfer point between the Green and Red lines, as one of the quartet of "hub stations" on the MBTA subway system. Park Street is the fifth-busiest station in the MBTA network, with an average of 16,571 entries each weekday in FY2019.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) system is mostly but not fully accessible. Like most American mass transit systems, much of the MBTA subway and commuter rail were built before wheelchair access became a requirement under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The MBTA has renovated most stations to be compliant with the ADA, and all stations built since 1990 are accessible. The MBTA also has a paratransit program, The Ride, which provides accessible vehicles to transport passengers who cannot use the fixed-route system.
Porter station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) transit station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It serves the Red Line rapid transit line, the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line, and several MBTA bus lines. Located at Porter Square at the intersection of Massachusetts and Somerville Avenues, the station provides rapid transit access to northern Cambridge and the western portions of Somerville. Porter is 14 minutes from Park Street on the Red Line, and about 10 minutes from North Station on commuter rail trains. Several local MBTA bus routes also stop at the station.
State station is an underground Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) rapid transit station located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is the transfer point between the Orange Line and the Blue Line, and one of four "hub stations" on the MBTA subway system. The Orange Line has two side platforms on two levels, while the Blue Line has two side platforms on a single level. The station is fully accessible.
Haymarket station is an underground Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) rapid transit station located at Haymarket Square in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is a transfer station between the Green Line and Orange Line of the MBTA subway system, as well as a terminal for MBTA bus routes serving northern and northeastern suburbs. The two lines run parallel to each other through the station, with two side platforms for the Orange Line and a single island platform for the Green Line. The station is fully accessible.
Wellington station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Orange Line rapid transit station in Medford, Massachusetts, near the border of Everett. It is located on the Revere Beach Parkway, slightly east of its intersection with Route 28. Wellington functions as a park and ride with more than 1,300 spaces, and a bus hub with eight routes terminating at the station. The Station Landing development, connected to the station by an overhead walkway, includes residential and retail buildings and additional parking. Wellington Carhouse, the primary repair and maintenance facility for the Orange Line, is located adjacent to the station.
Oak Grove station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) intermodal transit station in the northern section of Malden, Massachusetts, just south of the Melrose border. It is the northern terminus of the rapid transit Orange Line and a stop on the Haverhill Line commuter rail service. The accessible station has a 788-space park and ride lot and is served by three MBTA bus routes.
Route 128 station is a passenger rail station located at the crossing of the Northeast Corridor and Interstate 95/US Route 1/Route 128 at the eastern tip of Dedham and Westwood, Massachusetts, United States. The station is shared by Amtrak and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). It is served by most MBTA Commuter Rail Providence/Stoughton Line trains, as well as by all Amtrak Northeast Regional and Acela intercity trains. The station building, platforms, and parking garage are all fully accessible. It is the 23rd busiest Amtrak station in the country and the fifth busiest in New England.
The Winter Street Concourse is a pedestrian tunnel connecting the upper levels of the Downtown Crossing and Park Street subway stations in Boston, Massachusetts. It facilitates movement between the Green and Orange rapid transit lines operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and consequently alleviates congestion on the Red Line.
Ruggles station is an intermodal transfer station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) rapid transit, bus, and commuter rail services and is located at the intersection of Ruggles and Tremont streets, where the Roxbury, Fenway–Kenmore, and Mission Hill neighborhoods meet. It is surrounded by the campus of Northeastern University. Ruggles is a station stop for the Orange Line subway, as well as the Providence/Stoughton Line, Franklin/Foxboro Line, and Needham Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system. Thirteen MBTA bus routes stop at Ruggles.
Malden Center station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) intermodal transit station in Malden, Massachusetts. Located on an elevated grade above Pleasant Street in downtown Malden, it serves the rapid transit Orange Line and the MBTA Commuter Rail Haverhill Line. The station has one island platform for the two Orange Line tracks and a single side platform for the single commuter rail track. Two busways are used by 12 MBTA bus routes.
Sullivan Square station is a rapid transit station on the MBTA subway Orange Line, located adjacent to Sullivan Square in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is a major transfer point for MBTA bus service, with 10 routes using a two-level busway. The station has two island platforms serving the two active Orange Line tracks plus an unused third track. The Haverhill Line and Newburyport/Rockport Line pass through the station on separate tracks but do not stop.
Tufts Medical Center station is an underground Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) rapid transit station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA subway Orange Line, as well as two Silver Line bus rapid transit routes on the surface. It is named for the Tufts Medical Center and is built under a wing of the facility that crosses over Washington Street in downtown Boston between Kneeland Street in Chinatown and the Massachusetts Turnpike. The accessible station has two side platforms for the Orange Line.
Chinatown station is a rapid transit station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Orange Line, located at the edge of the Chinatown neighborhood in the downtown core of Boston, Massachusetts. The station has two offset side platforms, which run under Washington Street from Hayward Place to Lagrange Street. The three entrances are located at the intersection of Washington Street with Essex and Boylston streets. Like all Orange Line stations, both the subway platforms and all bus connections are fully accessible.
Broadway station is a subway station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA's Red Line. It is located at the intersection of Dorchester Avenue and Broadway in South Boston. It was opened on December 15, 1917, as part of the Dorchester Extension from Downtown Crossing to Andrew. The station has a single island platform to serve the two tracks.
Jackson Square station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Orange Line rapid transit station located on Centre Street near Columbus Avenue in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The station opened in 1987 as part of the Southwest Corridor project. It is served by MBTA bus routes 14, 22, 29, 41, and 44, which operate into an off-street busway located adjacent to the station.
South Station is a transfer station on the MBTA rapid transit Red Line and bus rapid transit Silver Line, located at Summer Street and Atlantic Avenue in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It is a part of the complex of the same name, the second busiest transportation center in New England. Eight MBTA Commuter Rail and three Amtrak intercity rail services terminate at South Station; many of those passengers then transfer to the rapid transit lines to reach other destinations in the city. With 24,639 daily boardings in 2019, South Station is the busiest station on the MBTA rapid transit system.
Back Bay station is an intermodal passenger station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located just south of Copley Square in Boston's Back Bay and South End neighborhoods. It serves MBTA Commuter Rail and MBTA subway routes, and also serves as a secondary Amtrak intercity rail station for Boston. The present building, designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Wood, opened in 1987. It replaced the New Haven Railroad's older Back Bay station – which opened in 1928 as a replacement for an 1899-built station – as well as the New York Central's Huntington Avenue and Trinity Place stations which had been demolished in 1964.
North Station is an underground MBTA subway station in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Served by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line and Orange Line, it is connected to the surface terminal of the same name used by MBTA Commuter Rail and Amtrak. The station is fully accessible.