Community College station is a rapid transit station on the
MBTA
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 ...
Orange Line 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 ...
,
. It is located in the
Charlestown neighborhood off Austin Street near New Rutherford Avenue (
MA-99), under the double-decked elevated structure carrying
Interstate 93
Interstate 93 (I-93) is an Interstate Highway in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is one of three primary Interstate Highways ...
to the
Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge
The Leonard P. Zakim () Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge (also known as “The Zakim”) is a cable-stayed bridge completed in 2003 across the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a replacement for the Charlestown High Bridge, an older trus ...
. The station is named for the adjacent
Bunker Hill Community College
Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is a public community college with multiple campuses in the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1973 in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, BHCC provides higher education and job training servi ...
. The station opened in April 1975, replacing the and stations of 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 ...
. It was made
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 ...
around 2005.
Station layout
![Community College station from under I-93, January 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Community_College_station_from_under_I-93%2C_January_2013.jpg)
Community College station is located under the double-decked elevated
Interstate 93
Interstate 93 (I-93) is an Interstate Highway in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is one of three primary Interstate Highways ...
at the southwest edge of
Charlestown, Boston
Charlestown is the oldest Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Originally called Mishawum by the Massachusett tribe, it is located on a peninsula north of the Charles River, across from dow ...
, just south of
Bunker Hill Community College
Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is a public community college with multiple campuses in the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1973 in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, BHCC provides higher education and job training servi ...
(BHCC) and west of New Rutherford Avenue (
Route 99).
East Cambridge
East Cambridge is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Referred to in modern times as Area 1, East Cambridge is bounded by the Charles River and the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston on the east, the Somerville border on the north, Bro ...
and the
NorthPoint development are to the southwest, with the
MBTA Commuter Rail Maintenance Facility
The MBTA Commuter Rail Maintenance Facility (signed as, and often known by, its former name of Boston Engine Terminal) is the primary train maintenance repair facility for the MBTA Commuter Rail system. It is located in the Inner Belt area of S ...
and the
Inner Belt District
The Inner Belt District is a industrial district located in the southeastern portion of Somerville, Massachusetts. Along with nearby Brickbottom, the Inner Belt is a historically industrial zone of Somerville, with factories, warehouses, distri ...
industrial park
An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park, ...
to the northwest and highway ramps to the southeast.
The station has two
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 ...
s and three tracks. Only the west platform is in use; inbound (southbound) tracks use the west track, with outbound trains using the center track. The east platform and track are not used for revenue service. A fare mezzanine is located over the tracks at the south end of the station. The mezzanine is connected to the north sidewalk of the Gilmore Bridge, which carries Austin Street over the Orange Line and the
North Station
North Station is a commuter rail and intercity rail terminal station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is served by four MBTA Commuter Rail lines – the Fitchburg Line, Haverhill Line, Lowell Line, and Newburyport/Rockport Line – and the Amtrak ...
approach tracks. A footbridge also connects the mezzanine directly to BHCC.
History
Previous stations
![Thompson Square Station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Thompson_Square_Station.jpg)
For much of the 19th century, the four major northside railroads (the
Fitchburg,
Boston and Lowell
The Boston and Lowell Railroad was a railroad that operated in Massachusetts in the United States. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state. The line later operated as part of the Boston and Maine Ra ...
(B&L),
Boston and Maine
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), and
Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
) did not share any trackage on the approach to Boston.
(Not until
North Union Station
North Station is a commuter rail and intercity rail terminal station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is served by four MBTA Commuter Rail lines – the Fitchburg Line, Haverhill Line, Lowell Line, and Newburyport/Rockport Line – and the Amtrak ...
in 1893 did they share a depot).
At that time, Charlestown was separated from East Cambridge by a large cove, Millers River. The Fitchburg crossed the B&M and the Eastern at Prison Point (then the site of a substantial state prison), near the modern location of Community College station. The Fitchburg and B&M had substantial freight depots nearby, and the B&M briefly had a Charlestown station around the 1850s.
For some period after the Fitchburg's Boston terminal replaced its Charlestown terminal in 1848, a
flag stop
In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a stop or station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, st ...
was made at the Prison Point Bridge.
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 ...
section of the
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 ...
's
Main Line
Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to:
Transportation
Railway
* Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system
* Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...
opened in June 1901, with three elevated stations in Charlestown. The
Thompson Square station
Thompson Square was a rapid transit station in Charlestown, Massachusetts. It served the Charlestown Elevated, part of the MBTA's Orange Line, from 1902 until 1975.
History
Thompson Square station opened on May 22, 1902, almost a year after t ...
was located one-third of a mile east of the current station along Austin Street at Main Street, while the
City Square station was located half a mile south along Rutherford Avenue at Chelsea Street. The elevated was unpopular with many local residents, as it was noisy and blocked out sunlight to Main Street. In 1917, the elevated structure was slated to be replaced with a more permanent subway line along the same Main Street routing, but this project was canceled by the US's entry into World War I.
Community College station
![Unused platform at Community College station, January 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Unused_platform_at_Community_College_station%2C_January_2013.jpg)
In the late 1960s, the MBTA began work on the
Haymarket North Extension
The Haymarket North Extension is a section of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's rapid transit Orange Line which currently constitutes the northern section of the line. It runs from North Station through an underground crossing of th ...
project. It included a tunnel segment north from
Haymarket Haymarket may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Haymarket, New South Wales, area of Sydney, Australia
Germany
* Heumarkt (KVB), transport interchange in Cologne on the site of the Heumarkt (literally: hay market)
Russia
* Sennaya Square (''Hay Squ ...
through a new underground stop at
North Station
North Station is a commuter rail and intercity rail terminal station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is served by four MBTA Commuter Rail lines – the Fitchburg Line, Haverhill Line, Lowell Line, and Newburyport/Rockport Line – and the Amtrak ...
, then under the Charles River to a portal south of the Gilmore Bridge. From there, the extension was built along the
Haverhill Line
The Haverhill Line (formerly named the Haverhill/Reading Line) is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running north from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through the cities and towns of
Malden, Melrose, Wakefield, Reading, Wilmington, An ...
commuter rail right of way. Community College station was built to replace the two elevated stops nearby in Charlestown. The new route opened to Sullivan Square on April 7, 1975.
The Main Line had previously been renamed as the Orange Line in 1967, as part of a systemwide rebranding by the newly formed
MBTA
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 ...
.
Like the Sullivan Square and Wellington stations, Community College was built with a second island platform serving the outbound track plus a third express track. This extra infrastructure was to be used for the Orange Line's planned extension to
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
to replace commuter rail service on the line. (Continuing commuter rail service to
Andover
Andover may refer to:
Places Australia
* Andover, Tasmania
Canada
* Andover Parish, New Brunswick
* Perth-Andover, New Brunswick
United Kingdom
* Andover, Hampshire, England
** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station
United States
* Ando ...
and
Haverhill was to be via the
Wildcat Branch
The Wildcat Branch is a single track railroad branch line which connects the MBTA Lowell Line in Wilmington, Massachusetts to the MBTA Haverhill Line at Wilmington Junction. The total length of the branch line from the connection with the Lowell ...
). However, the Orange Line extension was cut short to
Oak Grove due to local opposition in
Melrose, and no express service ever ran. The second platform is open for outbound passengers at busy Sullivan Square and Wellington, but at less-busy Community College it sits unused.
Unlike the four other original stations on the Haymarket North Extension, Community College was not built with a
busway. Bus routes in East Cambridge already terminated at
Lechmere station
Lechmere station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line light rail station in Lechmere Square in East Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is located on the east side of Monsignor O'Brien Highway near First Street, adjacen ...
to the west, while Charlestown routes and already extended to
Haymarket station along historic streetcar routings.
Routes and , which had terminated at City Square, were not extended to Community College; route 111 was instead extended to Haymarket, while route 112 was rerouted to .
In December 1975, outbound trips on route 92 were rerouted to Rutherford Avenue between Austin Street and School Street to serve BHCC and the station. However, it returned to its previous routing by December 1977.
In 1987, the MBTA considered construction of a parking garage at the station.
The station was not originally
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 ...
. An elevator to the main platform, reached by a footbridge between the platforms, was constructed as part of 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& ...
. Bidding took place in 2002. Shaft framework was installed for the unused second platform, but no elevator machinery was installed. The renovations were completed around 2005. The entire Orange Line, including Community College station, was closed from August 19 to September 18, 2022, during maintenance work.
References
External links
MBTA - Community CollegeAustin Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
{{MBTA Subway Stations, state=collapsed
Orange Line (MBTA) stations
Railway stations in Boston
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1975
Charlestown, Boston
Railway stations in Massachusetts at university and college campuses
MBTA subway stations located above ground