Downtown Crossing station (often known as DTX), is an underground
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 located in the
Downtown Crossing
Downtown Crossing is a shopping district within downtown Boston, Massachusetts, located east of Boston Common, west of the Financial District, south of Government Center, and north of Chinatown and the old Combat Zone. It features large ...
retail district in the
downtown core
The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with many integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive build ...
of
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 served by the
Orange Line and
Red Line, and is one of four "hub stations" on 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. Downtown Crossing is also a major bus transfer location serving 13
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, including one
Silver Line route. It is the second busiest subway station in the MBTA network (behind only ), with an average of 24,074 entries per weekday in FY2019.
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.
Station layout
Downtown Crossing has two underground platform levels, 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. 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 houses the Charliecard Store and includes entrances to several retail stores. The lower level platforms, under the concourse, serve Red Line trains. The
Winter Street Concourse
The Winter Street Concourse is a pedestrian tunnel connecting the upper levels of the Downtown Crossing (MBTA station), Downtown Crossing and Park Street station (MBTA), Park Street subway stations in Boston, Massachusetts. It facilitates movemen ...
, which connects to the southbound Orange Line platform, allows access to the
Green Line at without leaving the common
paid area
In rail transport, the paid area is a dedicated "inner" zone in a railway station or metro station, accessible via turnstiles or other barriers, to get into which, visitors or passengers require a valid ticket, checked smartcard or a pass. A sys ...
.
Accessibility
Like all Orange Line and Red Line stations, Downtown Crossing is
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 ...
. Surface elevators are located at the Winter Street, Franklin Street, and Hawley Street entrances.
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
The Winter Street Concourse is a pedestrian tunnel connecting the upper levels of the Downtown Crossing (MBTA station), Downtown Crossing and Park Street station (MBTA), Park Street subway stations in Boston, Massachusetts. It facilitates movemen ...
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.
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. 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''. 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. The nearly-three-year construction period is expected to start in 2023.
History
The Washington Street Tunnel carrying the Main Line Elevated (later the
Orange Line) opened on November 30, 1908.
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.
As part of a system-wide 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 ...
, on January 23, 1967, the Orange Line platforms were renamed Washington as well.
On May 3, 1987, the name was changed again to Downtown Crossing after the surrounding retail district, with Washington as a secondary name.
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.
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. As part of that project, the MBTA investigated the feasibility of connecting , , Washington, and with pedestrian tunnels. The stairways between the Summer Street Concourse and the Orange Line platforms were reconfigured.
The Franklin Street entrance was originally inside a building on the north side of the street. The construction of the 350 Washington Street building beginning in 1965 demolished the older building and widened the street.
A rebuilt entrance slightly to the north was incorporated into the new building. 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. 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.
The renovated headhouse reopened on September 12, 2016.
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
Jordan Marsh (officially Jordan Marsh & Company) was an American department store chain that was headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and operated throughout New England. It was founded by Eben Dyer Jordan and Benjamin L. Marsh in 1841. The o ...
(now
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
) and the former
Filene's
Filene's (formally William Filene & Sons Co.) was an American department store chain; it was founded by William Filene in 1881. The success of the original full-line store in Boston, Massachusetts, was supplemented by the foundation of its off-p ...
department store. In 1979, the
Winter Street Concourse
The Winter Street Concourse is a pedestrian tunnel connecting the upper levels of the Downtown Crossing (MBTA station), Downtown Crossing and Park Street station (MBTA), Park Street subway stations in Boston, Massachusetts. It facilitates movemen ...
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.
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. By 1991, a 1914-installed wooden escalator in the station was the oldest operating escalator in the world.
Modernization in the 1980s included the installation of ''Situations'', a set of 31 skewed marble seats designed by
Buster Simpson
Lewis Cole "Buster" Simpson (born in 1942) is an Americans, American sculptor and environmental artist based in Seattle, Washington.
Career
Lewis Cole Simpson was born in Saginaw, Michigan and raised in a nearby farming community. He became int ...
along the Red Line platform. During the renovations, temporary artworks were displayed 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. One work on the Orange Line level, a take on ''
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' is a 1956 American science fiction horror film produced by Walter Wanger, directed by Don Siegel, and starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. The black-and-white film was shot in Superscope and in the film ...
'', featured 'alien' eggs that grew and eventually hatched 'aliens' portrayed by costumed actors. In August 1987, the MBTA board approved plans for an
MBTA Transit Police
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police (also known as the T Police or Transit Police and colloquially known as the "Subway Cops") is a police force which has primary jurisdiction on Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA ...
substation in the Summer Street Concourse. The $950,000 substation opened on July 26, 1988.
Silver Line service from Downtown Crossing to began on July 24, 2002.
The Temple Place exit from the southbound Orange Line platform was reopened to allow easier transfers.
It was converted to an entrance around 2007 when
automated fare collection
An automated fare collection (AFC) system is the collection of components that automate the ticketing system of a public transportation network - an automated version of manual fare collection. An AFC system is usually the basis for integrated tic ...
was installed at the station.
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
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
State
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
, and Downtown Crossing stations. The work was completed in June 2021.
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.
CharlieCard Store
A ticket counter was formerly located on the mezzanine level of the station (outside fare control) under Winter Street east of Washington Street. On August 13, 2012, the MBTA combined customer services (formerly located in a booth at
Back Bay station
Back Bay station (also signed as Back Bay · South End) 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 M ...
) into the Downtown Crossing location as the "CharlieCard Store". The store provides services including obtaining special passes for blind, senior, disabled, and other users; transferring value between fare media; and the purchase of regular passes (the last of which can also be done at any unmanned fare machine).
Due to unreliable computer systems and high demand, the store experiences long wait times.
Bus connections
A number of
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 have Downtown Crossing station as their downtown terminus. These include local routes to
Charlestown,
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 ...
, and the
North Shore, express buses which run via the
Massachusetts Turnpike
The Massachusetts Turnpike (colloquially "Mass Pike" or "the Pike") is a toll highway in the US state of Massachusetts that is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). The turnpike begins at the New York state li ...
, and the
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 ...
Silver Line to
Dorchester.
Most routes stop on Otis Street at Summer Street, a short block east of the nearest subway entrance:
*: - Otis Street & Summer Street
*: Brighton Center - Federal Street & Franklin Street
*: - Federal Street & Franklin Street
*:
Waltham Center - Federal Street & Franklin Street
*:
Roberts - Federal Street & Franklin Street
*:
Waverley Square - Federal Street & Franklin Street
*: Waltham Highlands - Federal Street & Franklin Street
*: - Federal Street & Franklin Street
One route stops on Bedford Street at Kingston Street, an additional block to the south:
*: City Point - Bedford Street & Chauncy Street
One
Silver Line route serves Downtown Crossing at a midblock bus stop on Temple Place, half a block from the nearest subway entrance:
*: –Downtown Crossing at Temple Place
The and routes stopped at Downtown Crossing until they were cut back to Milk Street in August 2014.
References
External links
MBTA - Downtown Crossing*Entrances on Google Maps Street View
Washington at WinterSummer at WashingtonTemple Place101 Arch StreetChauncy StreetFranklin Street
{{MBTA Subway Stations
1908 establishments in Massachusetts
Financial District, Boston
Orange Line (MBTA) stations
Red Line (MBTA) stations
Railway stations located underground in Boston
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1908
Silver Line (MBTA) stations
MBTA subway stations located underground