Bowdoin 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)
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
station in
Bowdoin Square
Bowdoin Street in Boston, Massachusetts extends from the top of Beacon Street, down Beacon Hill to Cambridge Street, near the West End. It was originally called "Middlecott Street" as early as the 1750s. In 1805 it was renamed after the Governor ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts. The station is the downtown terminus of the
Blue Line, part of the
MBTA subway
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates rapid transit (heavy rail), light rail, and bus rapid transit services in the Boston metropolitan area, collectively referred to as the rapid transit, subway, or the T system.
The c ...
system. It has a single wedge-shaped
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
located inside a
balloon loop
A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains.
Bal ...
. Bowdoin is the only Blue Line station that is not
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.e ...
.
Bowdoin opened in 1916 as part of an extension of the
East Boston Tunnel
The Blue Line is a rapid transit line in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, one of four rapid transit lines operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). It runs from Bowdoin station in downtown Boston under Boston Harbo ...
, serving as the terminal for streetcar lines from
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 ...
. The line was converted to use high-floor trains in 1924, with raised platforms constructed at the stations. The station was modernized in 1968, with a new
brutalist
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
headhouse
A head house or headhouse may be an enclosed building attached to an open-sided shed, or the aboveground part of a subway station.
Markets
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, head houses were often civic buildings such as town halls or courth ...
designed by
Josep Lluís Sert
Josep Lluís Sert i López (; 1 July 190215 March 1983) was a Spanish architect and city planner.
Biography
Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Sert showed keen interest in the works of his uncle, the painter Josep Maria Sert, and of Gaudí. He s ...
. Bowdoin was closed for two periods in the early 1980s due to budget cuts; it was open for limited hours on weekdays only until 2014, when it returned to full-time service during the reconstruction of nearby
Government Center station. The proposed
Red–Blue connector would extend the Blue Line west to a
Red Line transfer at
Charles/MGH station
Charles/MGH station is a rapid transit station on the MBTA Red Line (MBTA), Red Line, elevated above Charles Circle (Boston), Charles Circle on the east end of the Longfellow Bridge in the West End, Boston, West End neighborhood of Boston, Mass ...
, with Bowdoin station likely eliminated.
Station design
![Bowdoin station plan, 1986](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Bowdoin_station_plan%2C_1986.png)
The station is located under
Cardinal Cushing Memorial Park
Cardinal Cushing Memorial Park (or Cardinal Cushing Park) is a park located at 5 New Chardon Street in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The park features a bust of Richard Cushing
Richard James Cushing (August 24, 1895 – November 2, 19 ...
, a triangular public plaza at the northeast corner of
Bowdoin Square
Bowdoin Street in Boston, Massachusetts extends from the top of Beacon Street, down Beacon Hill to Cambridge Street, near the West End. It was originally called "Middlecott Street" as early as the 1750s. In 1805 it was renamed after the Governor ...
– the intersection of Cambridge Street with
Bowdoin Street
Bowdoin Street in Boston, Massachusetts extends from the top of Beacon Street, down Beacon Hill to Cambridge Street, near the West End. It was originally called "Middlecott Street" as early as the 1750s. In 1805 it was renamed after the Governor ...
and
New Chardon Street
New Chardon Street is a street in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States, north of Government Center. It begins at Cambridge Street at Bowdoin Square, across from Bowdoin Street. The two-way street continues east across Congress Street, ...
, located at the junction of
Beacon Hill neighborhood and the
Government Center area.
The single entrance to the station is near the east end of the park, with a small sunken plaza below the rest of the park and a concrete
triangular prism
In geometry, a triangular prism is a three-sided prism; it is a polyhedron made of a triangular base, a translated copy, and 3 faces joining corresponding sides. A right triangular prism has rectangular sides, otherwise it is ''oblique''. A unif ...
headhouse
A head house or headhouse may be an enclosed building attached to an open-sided shed, or the aboveground part of a subway station.
Markets
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, head houses were often civic buildings such as town halls or courth ...
.
Bowdoin station has a single wedge-shaped
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
(two
side platform
A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...
s that intersect at their east ends) about below the surface.
The platform is located inside a
balloon loop
A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains.
Bal ...
which allows westbound trains to turn eastbound. West of the loop, about of two
tail track
A pocket track, tail track, or reversing siding (UK: centre siding , turnback siding) is a rail track layout which allows trains to park off the main line. This type of track layout differs from a passing loop in that the pocket track is usually ...
s (Bowdoin Yard) run west under Cambridge Street. The yard is used as weather-protected train storage during the winter.
Six-car trains are able to fit on the westbound platform, but the eastbound section of the platform is only long enough for four cars. Since the Blue Line uses six-car trains, doors cannot be automatically opened; passengers must use pushbuttons on the outside of the train to open doors.
The fare lobby, slightly higher in elevation than the platform, is located in the center of the station. A ramp leads from the fare lobby to the east end of the platform, with stairs connecting the west end of the westbound side of the platform to the lobby. Stairs and an up escalator lead from the lobby to the surface.
The station floor is terrazzo, and the walls brown enameled brick. The walls of the track area plus the ceilings are the painted concrete of the tunnel structure. Trim and fittings are primarily stainless steel; columns on the platform are covered with white enamel tile and trimmed with stainless steel.
History
Streetcar station
![Bowdoin station, January 1916](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Bowdoin_station%2C_January_1916.jpg)
The
East Boston Tunnel
The Blue Line is a rapid transit line in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, one of four rapid transit lines operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). It runs from Bowdoin station in downtown Boston under Boston Harbo ...
was opened to
Boston Elevated Railway
The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) was a streetcar and rapid transit railroad operated on, above, and below, the streets of Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding communities. Founded in 1894, it eventually acquired the West End Street Railwa ...
(BERy) streetcar service as far as
Court Street on December 30, 1904.
Court Street proved to be a problematic terminus; its stub-end single-track design limited frequent service and resulted in several fatal crashes.
The Boston Transit Commission (BTC) began construction of a extension of the East Boston Tunnel on November 29, 1912. The extension ran from Scollay Square (where a new platform was constructed to replace Court Street station) to a new station and loop at Bowdoin Square. Tracks continued west under Cambridge Street to an incline at Joy Street, where streetcars could continue on surface tracks to Charles Street and the
Longfellow Bridge
The Longfellow Bridge is a steel rib arch bridge spanning the Charles River to connect Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood with the Kendall Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The bridge carries Massachusetts Route 3, US Route 3, the MBTA R ...
to Cambridge.
Bowdoin was built with a wedge-shaped
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
inside a
balloon loop
A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains.
Bal ...
, which eliminated the awkward end-changing required at Court Street and allowed use of unpowered trailer cars in the tunnel to increase capacity.
The station had two staircase entrances at the west end of Bowdoin Square, adjacent to the Parkman building. The finish of Bowdoin and Scollay Under stations was similar to
Washington station Washington station may refer to:
Railroad stations
* Washington station (Los Angeles Metro)
* Washington station (Missouri), an Amtrak station in Washington, Missouri
* Washington station (New Jersey), a disused station in Washington, New Jers ...
(opened 1915) and the
Boylston Street subway stations (1914):
granolithic
Granolithic screed, also known as granolithic pavingEmmitt and Gorse, p. 566. and granolithic concrete,Harris, p. 470. is a type of construction material composed of cement and fine aggregate such as granite or other hard-wearing rock.Ingham, p. 1 ...
platforms,
wainscotting
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...
of white polished
terrazzo
Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bindi ...
, and white plaster upper walls and ceiling. Bands of ceramic tile trimmed the wainscotting; at Bowdoin, the tile was dark blue.
The stairwells were walled with polished
Quincy granite and roofed with smoothed concrete.
Construction of the station began on March 2, 1914; 247 men were employed for the work. Several buildings had to be underpinned to allow the loop to be built underneath them. Construction of the station was completed on December 4, 1914, with finish work following.
The extension opened on March 18, 1916.
All streetcar lines from East Boston looped at Bowdoin except for a
Central Square, Cambridge
Central Square is an area in Cambridge, Massachusetts centered on the junction of Massachusetts Avenue (Cambridge), Massachusetts Avenue, Prospect Street and Western Avenue. , formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Columbia Street, Sidne ...
–
Orient Heights
Orient Heights is a historic section of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is commonly considered part of East Boston; it is Boston's northernmost and northeasternmost neighborhood.
The neighborhood sits on a hill, which measures 152 fee ...
line.
Modifications
![Bowdoin station headhouse from the east, April 2017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Bowdoin_station_headhouse_from_the_east%2C_April_2017.JPG)
Though originally planned to use high-floor
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
trains, the East Boston Tunnel opened with streetcars serving low-platform stations.
Large bi-loading streetcars (with high floors but capable of loading from low platforms), which incorporated many attributes from metro cars used on the Main Line El, began use in 1905.
However, neither these nor the large center-entrance cars introduced in 1917 (which were designed for
multiple unit
A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contr ...
operation) could fully handle the crowds.
In 1921, the Boston Transit Department (BTD) – the successor to the BTC – began work at Maverick Square to convert the East Boston Tunnel to high-floor metro trains. The next year, the BTD board approved the construction of high-level platforms at Atlantic Avenue, Devonshire, Scollay Under, and Bowdoin. Construction of concrete high-level platforms above the rails at Bowdoin began in December 1923 or January 1924. A section of low-level platform was left to serve streetcars during construction. Temporary wooden platform sections were put in place to allow service to begin on April 21, with the permanent concrete sections completed by July 12. The Bowdoin platform was also extended east from August 27 to December 12.
Rather than modify the tunnel, the BERy elected to build smaller-than-usual rapid transit cars which could operate in a tunnel designed for streetcars—particularly around the tight loop at Bowdoin.
Blue Line cars are thus long, substantially shorter than the
Orange Line cars and the
Red Line cars.
Because the line did not have a dedicated heavy maintenance facility, major repair work was performed at
Eliot Shops – the main maintenance facility for the
Cambridge–Dorchester line
The Red 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 and east underground from Alewife station in North Cambridge through Somerville and Ca ...
. Trains used the former streetcar portal west of Bowdoin and ran on surface streetcar tracks on the
Longfellow Bridge
The Longfellow Bridge is a steel rib arch bridge spanning the Charles River to connect Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood with the Kendall Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The bridge carries Massachusetts Route 3, US Route 3, the MBTA R ...
, which connected to the Cambridge–Dorchester line tracks near Kendall Square.
When the first phase of the
Revere Extension opened to with a new maintenance facility in 1952, the connection was no longer necessary and the portal was filled.
The newly formed
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) assigned colors to the four
MBTA subway
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates rapid transit (heavy rail), light rail, and bus rapid transit services in the Boston metropolitan area, collectively referred to as the rapid transit, subway, or the T system.
The c ...
lines in 1965, with the East Boston Tunnel and Revere Extension becoming the
Blue Line.
The station was modernized in 1967–1968 as part of a $9 million systemwide station improvement program. The original entrances at the west end of the station were replaced with a glassy entrance under a tilted concrete slab, set into a shallow depression to reduce the costs of installing the escalator.
The new headhouse, near the middle of the station, was designed by
Josep Lluís Sert
Josep Lluís Sert i López (; 1 July 190215 March 1983) was a Spanish architect and city planner.
Biography
Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Sert showed keen interest in the works of his uncle, the painter Josep Maria Sert, and of Gaudí. He s ...
as part of a project for a never-built Catholic chapel nearby.
Illustrations showing the history of Bowdoin Square were added to the station signs. Bowdoin was closed during part of the renovations and reopened on March 7, 1968. The station was surveyed in 1984 and 1987 for potential inclusion on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
; it was concluded that the 1924 and 1968 reconstructions had left little of the original station, and that it was of minor significance within the system.
Closures and reopening
![Bowdoin station island platform, November 2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Bowdoin_station_island_platform%2C_November_2015.JPG)
In the early 1980s, the MBTA suffered from a serious budget crisis, which resulted in service cuts.
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 ...
service to and
Concord
Concord may refer to:
Meaning "agreement"
* Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony)
* Harmony, in music
* Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...
and on the
Woburn Branch
The Woburn Branch Railroad (known as the Woburn Loop) was a branch line of the Boston and Lowell Railroad ("B&L") and later of the MBTA Commuter Rail system that connected the Lowell Line with the city square in Woburn, Massachusetts.
History
Wh ...
was cut entirely, five underused commuter rail stations were closed, and
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
were closed for short periods, and the outer ends of the Orange and Blue lines were
bustituted on Sundays.
Bowdoin, with low ridership and in close proximity to , was closed on January 3, 1981 due to budget cuts.
It reopened on January 11, 1982, but only on weekdays until 6:30 pm – intended to serve workers in nearby office and government buildings. Bowdoin was briefly closed again from March 3 to April 20, 1982, and reopened again with limited hours, with Government Center serving as the terminus on nights and weekends (though trains continued to loop at Bowdoin).
After the early 1980s, it was the only MBTA subway station with limited hours.
The station was closed from July 29 to September 8, 1992, during track work on the loop.
As the MBTA planned the
Blue Line Modernization Project in the early 1990s, the agency planned to close Bowdoin in order to eliminate the tight loop. The closure would take place after the renovation of Government Center, which would re-add a long-closed entrance at the west end of the Blue Line platform.
second page
In 2008, the MBTA began running six-car trains on the Blue Line.
Because the eastbound side of the Bowdoin platform can only fit four cars, the MBTA had originally planned to close the station when six-car trains entered service; a planned renovation of Government Center station was to add a second headhouse close to Bowdoin Square. However, the station was kept open, with only four cars on each eastbound train berthed at the platform.
Until at least 2011, the MBTA still planned to close the station after Government Center was renovated. However, by 2013, the MBTA decided not to construct the planned west entrance at Government Center, and to instead build only a less-expensive emergency exit. On December 28, 2013, the MBTA resumed night and weekend service to Bowdoin station. The change was intended to provide alternative transportation during the three-month closure of the
Callahan Tunnel
The Lieutenant William F. Callahan Jr. Tunnel (colloquially Callahan Tunnel) is one of four tunnels, and one of three road tunnels, beneath Boston Harbor in Boston, Massachusetts. It carries motor vehicles from the North End to Logan Internati ...
and subsequent two-year closure of Government Center station. This was the first time since 1981 that the station was open during all operating hours.
In February 2016, the MBTA announced that Bowdoin would remain open at all times even after Government Center reopened on March 21. Daily ridership at the station increased from 1,526 in 2013 to 2,127 in FY 2019.
The reconstructions of Government Center in 2014–16 left Bowdoin as the only 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.e ...
metro station on the Blue Line; aside from street-level light rail stops, Bowdoin is one of only four non-accessible MBTA subway stations. In 2019, the MBTA indicated that Bowdoin was a "Tier II" accessibility priority pending the results of conceptual design.
Red–Blue connector
The
Red–Blue connector is a proposed extension of the Blue Line under Cambridge Street to
Charles/MGH station
Charles/MGH station is a rapid transit station on the MBTA Red Line (MBTA), Red Line, elevated above Charles Circle (Boston), Charles Circle on the east end of the Longfellow Bridge in the West End, Boston, West End neighborhood of Boston, Mass ...
, about west of Bowdoin, where a transfer to the
Red Line would be available. The project was first proposed in 1924, and returned to consideration in the 1978 update to the Program for Mass Transportation, although extensions from Bowdoin or Government Center to were proposed in 1926 and 1978.
[ ] In 1991, the state agreed to build the project by 2011 as part of the settlement of a lawsuit over auto emissions from the
Big Dig
The Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T Project), commonly known as the Big Dig, was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the Central Artery of Interstate 93 (I-93), the chief highway through the heart of the city, into the 1.5-mile (2.4& ...
project. This commitment was changed to design only in 2007–08 and lifted entirely in 2015.
Original plans for the connector in 1986 called for a
cut-and-cover
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube constr ...
extension west from Bowdoin Yard, with Bowdoin station retained without significant modifications. The 2010 Draft Environmental Impact Report instead called for a pair of deeper tunnels bored by a
tunnel boring machine
A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore throu ...
(TBM), starting east of Bowdoin station and passing underneath the existing platform. Alternatives with a replacement Bowdoin station west of Bowdoin Street, and without a replacement station, were considered; the latter was recommended due to lower cost and reduced travel time.
A 2018 update which analyzed multiple tunneling methods only considered an extension without a replacement Bowdoin station, as did a 2020 conceptual design. A 2021 conceptual design raised the possibility of retaining the loop as a storage track.
References
External links
MBTA – BowdoinHeadhouse from Google Maps Street View
{{MBTA Subway Stations
Beacon Hill, Boston
MBTA subway stations located underground
Blue Line (MBTA) stations
Government Center, Boston
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1916
Railway stations located underground in Boston
West End, Boston