Central station (also called Central Square station) is an
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 station in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
. It serves the
Red Line and has a street-level terminal for the
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 ...
system. It is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue with Western Avenue, Prospect Street, and Magazine Street at
Central Square.
The station is fully
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 ...
, with each of the 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 served by an elevator.
History
After the success of the 1897-opened
Tremont Street Subway
The Tremont Street subway in Boston's MBTA subway system is the oldest subway tunnel in North America and the third oldest still in use worldwide to exclusively use electric traction (after the City and South London Railway in 1890, and the Bud ...
, the Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) planned an elevated system with lines to Cambridge,
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 ...
,
Charlestown, and
Roxbury. The latter two lines opened in 1901 as the
Charlestown Elevated
The Charlestown Elevated was a segment of the MBTA Orange Line rapid transit line that ran from the Canal Street Incline in downtown Boston, Massachusetts through Charlestown to a terminal in Everett, Massachusetts. It opened in June 1901 and ...
and
Washington Street Elevated
The Washington Street Elevated was an elevated segment of Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway system, comprising the southern stretch of the Orange Line. It ran from Chinatown through the South End and Roxbury, ending ...
, while the South Boston line was determined to be infeasible.
After debate about running an elevated line above business districts in Cambridge, the BERy agreed in late 1906 to built a line under
Beacon Hill in Boston, over a new
West Boston 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 Re ...
, and under Main Street and Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge to Harvard Square.
Construction began on May 24, 1909.
The Cambridge Subway opened from
Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The term "Harvard Square" is also used to delineate the busin ...
to
Park Street Under
''Park Street Under'' is a sitcom set in a fictional subterranean bar in the Park Street subway station in Boston, Massachusetts. It was produced starting in 1979 by Boston television station WCVB-TV. This was a rare example in the United States ...
on March 23, 1912, with intermediate stations at Central Square and
Kendall Square
Kendall Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The square itself at the intersection of Main Street and Broadway. It also refers to the broad business district east of Portland Street, northwest of the Charles River, north of MIT ...
.
Kendall Square and Central Square stations had very similar designs, each with 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 long. The station had one exit and one entrance stairway at each end of each platform; all were wide except for one -wide pair.
The platforms and floors were made of
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 ...
. Station walls were tiled with white enamel, with a
buff
Buff or BUFF may refer to:
People
* Buff (surname), a list of people
* Buff (nickname), a list of people
* Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955)
* Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional wr ...
tile band above the floor and white plaster above.
Several original tile mosaics displaying the station name are still in place above the platforms.
On January 26, 1978, heavy rains flooded the station. In the mid-1980s, the platforms were extended at many early-built Red Line stations, allowing six-car trains to be run beginning in January 1988.
The platforms at Central were extended to the northwest (contrary to original plans for the southeast) beginning on April 25, 1985, with new entrances placed west of Prospect Street.
(Extension to the northwest had been previously proposed in 1927 to add the additional entrances.) The $11.2 million project was completed on March 9, 1988. As part of the
Arts on the Line
Arts on the Line was a program devised to bring art into the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) subway stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Arts on the Line was the first program of its kind in the United States and became th ...
program, two works of
public art
Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...
were installed:
*''East Indian'', by Elizabeth Mapelli, seven
fused glass
Glass fusing is the joining together of pieces of glass at high temperature, usually in a kiln. This is usually done roughly between and , and can range from ''tack fusing'' at lower temperatures, in which separate pieces of glass stick together ...
tile murals behind benches on the platforms
*''Circle Square'' by Anne Storrs and Dennis Cunningham, 100 ceramic tile reliefs mounted above the station columns
The MBTA agreed to replace the inbound elevator as part of the 2006 settlement of ''
Joanne Daniels-Finegold, et al. v. MBTA''. Notice to proceed was given in June 2017.
The elevator was closed on April 9, 2018; due to issues with conduits and a
standpipe, completion was delayed by over a year to April 2, 2020.
The MBTA also plans to add two additional elevators to the station, and to replace the outbound elevator. Design was completed by May 2022.
Bus connections
Central is a major transfer station, with six
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 running from the station to various parts of Cambridge, Somerville, Allston, and Boston.
*:
Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The term "Harvard Square" is also used to delineate the busin ...
–
Nubian station
Nubian station (variously known by its former name Dudley Square, Dudley, or Dudley Street Terminal) is a ground-level bus station located in Nubian Square (formerly Dudley Square) in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United Sta ...
*: Central Square, Cambridge–
Broadway station
*:
Oak Square station–
University Park or
Kendall/MIT station
Kendall/MIT station (signed as Kendall) is an underground rapid transit station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA Red Line, Located at the intersection of Main Street and Broadway, it is named for the primary areas it serves - the ...
*: Market Place Drive or
Waltham Center–University Park
*: Rindge Avenue–Central Square, Cambridge
*:
Sullivan Square station
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 13 routes ...
–Central Square, Cambridge
References
External links
MBTA - Central*Google Maps Street View
Prospect Street entrancesEssex Street entrancesPearl Street entrances
{{MBTA Subway Stations
Red Line (MBTA) stations
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1912
Railway stations in Cambridge, Massachusetts
1912 establishments in Massachusetts
Railway stations located underground in Massachusetts
MBTA subway stations located underground