Bellingham Square station (formerly Chelsea station) is a
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
(MBTA)
Silver Line bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
(BRT) station located near
Bellingham Square
Bellingham Square Historic District is a historic district encompassing the civic and commercial heart of Chelsea, Massachusetts. Roughly bounded by Broadway, Shawmut, Chestnut, and Shurtleff Streets, the district was almost entirely built in ...
slightly north of downtown
Chelsea, Massachusetts
Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. As of the 2020 census, Chelsea had a population of 40,787. With a total area of just 2.46 s ...
. The station has two
accessible
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...
side platforms for buses on the
SL3 route. The
Boston and Maine Railroad
The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022).
At the end of 1970, B ...
and predecessor
Eastern Railroad
The Eastern Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Maine. Throughout its history, it competed with the Boston and Maine Railroad for service between the two cities, until the Boston & Maine put an end to the compe ...
served Chelsea station at the same location from the mid-1850s to 1958. The MBTA opened Chelsea station on the
Newburyport/Rockport Line
The Newburyport/Rockport Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running northeast from downtown Boston, Massachusetts towards Cape Ann and the Merrimack Valley, serving the North Shore. The first leg, operating via the Eastern Rou ...
in 1985. Prior to its 2010 cancellation, the
Urban Ring Project
The Urban Ring was a proposed project of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, to develop new public transportation routes that would provide improved circumferential connections amon ...
planned for a circumferential BRT line with a stop at Mystic Mall. Planning continued for the Chelsea segment; a Silver Line extension to Mystic Mall was announced in 2013. Construction began in 2015, and SL3 service to the renamed Bellingham Square station began on April 21, 2018. Commuter rail service moved to the newly constructed
Chelsea station on November 15, 2021.
Station layout
![Outbound platform at Bellingham Square station, July 2021](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Outbound_platform_at_Bellingham_Square_station%2C_July_2021.jpg)
The station is located between Sixth Street and Washington Avenue, about north of Bellingham Square. The Newburyport/Rockport Line and the adjacent Silver Line busway run roughly east-west at the station site, with the busway on the south side. The outbound (westbound) bus platform is located adjacent to the Sixth Street/Arlington Street grade crossing; the inbound platform is located to the east, with a ramp structure leading to the Washington Avenue bridge. Both bus platforms have concrete canopies. Prior to its closure, the remaining commuter rail platform was located on the north side of the two tracks, with a metal shelter. The station is accessible for Silver Line buses.
Five
MBTA bus
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates List of MBTA bus routes, 170 bus routes in the Greater Boston area. The MBTA has a policy objective to provide transit service within walking distance (defined as ) for all residents ...
routes converge on Bellingham Square near the station. Routes and serve the station directly on 6th Street, while route serves the station on Washington Avenue. Routes and run on Broadway to the east.
History
Original station
![Chelsea station postcard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Chelsea_station_postcard.JPG)
The freight-only
Grand Junction Railroad
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opened through
Everett and
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
in 1852 to serve the
East Boston
East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts annexed by the city of Boston in 1637. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea. It is separated from the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown and do ...
docks.
On April 10, 1854, the
Eastern Railroad
The Eastern Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Maine. Throughout its history, it competed with the Boston and Maine Railroad for service between the two cities, until the Boston & Maine put an end to the compe ...
opened a line from
Revere to Boston, with
trackage rights over the Grand Junction from Chelsea to
Somerville. This replaced the Eastern's 1838-built
mainline from Revere to East Boston – which required a ferry connection to reach downtown Boston – as the railroad's primary Boston entry.
A station at Chelsea opened with or soon after the new line.
In 1868, the Eastern built its own tracks on the north side of the Grand Junction tracks.
The Eastern Railroad was acquired by the
Boston and Maine Railroad
The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022).
At the end of 1970, B ...
(B&M) in 1885.
The station building was originally on the south side of the tracks between Washington Avenue and Sixth Street; it was moved across the tracks and closer to Washington Avenue by the 1890s. It was a two-story wooden structure with a small cupola, with a canopy on all sides. The station was moved slightly north to face Heard Street in the 20th century.
On April 18, 1958, the B&M received permission from the Public Utilities Commission to drastically curtail its suburban commuter service, including abandoning branches, closing stations, and cutting trains. Among the approved cuts was the closure of all Eastern Division service south of
Lynn, including the entirety of the
Saugus Branch, plus mainline stations at
East Somerville, Everett, Chelsea, and
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
.
[ ] These areas were largely within the Metropolitan Transit Authority bus service area, acquired from the
Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway in 1936. The Saugus Branch and mainline stations were closed on May 16, 1958.
MBTA Commuter Rail station
![Chelsea station facing outbound, May 2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Chelsea_station_facing_outbound%2C_May_2012.JPG)
The
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
(MBTA) began subsidizing remaining B&M service on the line in 1965; it became the
Newburyport/Rockport Line
The Newburyport/Rockport Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running northeast from downtown Boston, Massachusetts towards Cape Ann and the Merrimack Valley, serving the North Shore. The first leg, operating via the Eastern Rou ...
of the
MBTA Commuter Rail
The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track to 141 different stations, with 58 statio ...
system.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the MBTA reopened several inner-suburb commuter rail stations in response to community desire for service that was faster if less frequent than buses. In 1976, Chelsea station was considered for reactivation, but ridership was expected to be relatively small due to the nearby and buses.
On September 4, 1985, the MBTA Board awarded a $412,000 contract to construct a new station at Chelsea. The station opened on December 1, 1985, concurrent with the restoration of regular service on the line following the 1984 fire that destroyed the Danvers River drawbridge.
The station was built onto the existing
right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
at the former station site, with the outbound platform paved over the disused Grand Junction track. It was one of the last non-
accessible
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...
stations opened by the MBTA.
second page
third page
The MBTA was unable to secure an easement from Conrail to construct accessible platforms; the MBTA's failure to make the station accessible resulted in fines from the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board in 1989.
The Grand Junction tracks in Chelsea were largely unused after the
Chelsea Creek
Chelsea Creek, shown on federal maps as the Chelsea River, is a waterway that runs along the shore of Chelsea, Massachusetts, and separates that community from the cities of Boston and Revere, as well as feeding part of the current Belle Isl ...
bridge burned in 1955. In 2002,
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
began the process of abandoning the Grand Junction from 2nd Street through Chelsea to East Boston; the proceedings were delayed by negotiations with the city of Chelsea to acquire the right-of-way.
Silver Line
Chelsea was a proposed stop on the
Urban Ring Project
The Urban Ring was a proposed project of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, to develop new public transportation routes that would provide improved circumferential connections amon ...
– a planned circumferential
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
(BRT) line designed to connect the current radial MBTA rail lines. Under draft plans released in 2008, a dedicated busway was to be built using the disused Grand Junction right-of-way, paralleling the active commuter rail tracks through Everett and Chelsea. The commuter rail platforms at Chelsea would have been extended to full length and raised for accessibility, with a new bus station built on the south side of the station.. The project was shelved in January 2010 due to high costs.
That June, the
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) oversees roads, public transit, aeronautics, and transportation licensing and registration in the US state of Massachusetts. It was created on November 1, 2009, by the 186th Session of t ...
(MassDOT) purchased the disused Grand Junction right-of-way from 2nd Street to East Boston, to be
landbank
Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP; often referred to simply as LandBank), is a Government-owned and controlled corporation, government-owned bank in the Philippines with a special focus on serving the needs of farmers and fisherman, fishermen. ...
ed for future transportation use.
Planning for some smaller corridors continued; the Chelsea–
South Boston
South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...
section was given high priority because Chelsea was densely populated yet underserved by transit.
A 2011 state study analyzed potential Chelsea transit improvements, including a
Silver Line branch or improvements to the route bus. One Silver Line alternative terminated at the Chelsea commuter rail station; the other ran on surface streets with a terminal in Bellingham Square.
In March 2013, the MBTA began studying an extension of the Silver Line to Chelsea via a newly constructed bypass road in East Boston. Three alternatives were discussed for the Chelsea section. One would run up the disused section of the Grand Junction Railroad right-of-way from Eastern Avenue to Chelsea station with stops at ,
Highland/Box District, the existing Chelsea station, and
Mystic Mall
A mystic is a person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery, mystic craft, first hand-experience or the occult.
Mystic may also refer to:
Places United States
* Mistick, an old name for parts of Malden and Medford, Massachusetts
...
. The second alignment would follow the Grand Junction to just short of the existing station, then diverge onto surface roads to the square. The third alignment would run largely on surface streets, serving two stops on Central Avenue and four stops along a loop serving the existing station and the MGH Chelsea healthcare center near Mystic Mall. In September 2013, the MBTA indicated that it would pursue the first alternative despite potential issues with bridge clearances and rebuilding Chelsea station.
On October 30, 2013, MassDOT announced $82.5 million in state funding for a modified version of the first alternative to be constructed. The commuter rail station would be moved to the new
Chelsea station (at Mystic Mall), where more room was available for platforms, with only the Silver Line stopping at the existing site near Bellingham Square. Service was then expected to begin in late 2015. The Environmental Impact Report was issued in March 2014. A $33.8 million construction contract was approved in September 2014, and construction began in March 2015.
The southern (outbound) commuter rail platform was removed to make room for the busway.
By June 2017, opening had been pushed back to April 2018.
Silver Line service to Chelsea on the SL3 route began on April 21, 2018. Construction on the second phase of the project, which included the relocated Chelsea commuter rail station plus
transit signal priority
Bus priority or transit signal priority (TSP) is a name for various techniques to improve service and reduce delay for mass transit vehicles at intersections (or junctions) controlled by traffic signals. TSP techniques are most commonly associat ...
upgrades for the SL3, began in August 2019. The new commuter rail platforms at Chelsea station opened on November 15, 2021, leaving Bellingham Square station served only by the Silver Line. The remaining commuter rail platform at Bellingham Square was removed later in 2021.
References
External links
{{commons category
*MBTA â€
Bellingham SquareChelsea*Google Maps Street View
from Arlington Streetfrom Washington Avenue
MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Stations along Boston and Maine Railroad lines
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1985
Chelsea, Massachusetts
1985 establishments in Massachusetts
Railway stations closed in 2021