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Forest Hills station is an intermodal transfer station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves 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 ...
rapid transit Orange Line and three
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 ...
lines ( Needham, Providence/Stoughton, and Franklin/Foxboro) and is a major terminus for
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. It is located in Forest Hills, in the southern part of the
Jamaica Plain Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of the former Town of Roxbury, now also a part of the City of Boston. The commun ...
neighborhood. Most
Providence/Stoughton Line The Providence/Stoughton Line is an MBTA Commuter Rail service in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, primarily serving the southwestern suburbs of Boston. Most service runs entirely on the Northeast Corridor between South Station in Boston and Provi ...
trains, and all
Franklin Line The Franklin Line, also called the Franklin/Foxboro Line, is part of the MBTA Commuter Rail system. It runs from Boston's South Station in a southwesterly direction toward Franklin, Massachusetts, utilizing the Northeast Corridor before splitti ...
and
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...
trains, pass through the station without stopping. The station is surrounded by large parks. To the west of the station is
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
's
Arnold Arboretum The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is a botanical research institution and free public park, located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1872, it is the oldest public arboretum in N ...
, part of Boston's
Emerald Necklace The Emerald Necklace consists of a chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. It was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, and gets its name from the way the planned chain appears ...
; to the east are the
Forest Hills Cemetery Forest Hills Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery, greenspace, arboretum and sculpture garden located in the Forest Hills section of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery was established in 1848 as a public ...
and Franklin Park, another part of Boston's
Emerald Necklace The Emerald Necklace consists of a chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. It was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, and gets its name from the way the planned chain appears ...
. The station also marks the southern end of the linear
Southwest Corridor Park Southwest Corridor Park is a linear urban park in Boston, Massachusetts, part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston and managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). It extends from the South End and ...
, built over and around the Southwest Corridor (which carries Amtrak, commuter rail, and Orange Line trains into the center of Boston). Several small retailers are located in the station, including a doughnut/coffee shop, newspaper stand and florist. During warmer months, a farmers' stand is set up. In addition, the station features an
MBTA 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.
Park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...
parking spaces for 206 cars are available on the station grounds. Forest Hills station is fully accessible on all modes. The entire Orange Line, including the Orange Line platforms at Forest Hills station, was closed from August 19 to September 18, 2022, during maintenance work. Additional commuter rail service was operated to the station during the closure.


History


Tollgate station

The
Boston and Providence Railroad The Boston and Providence Railroad was a railroad company in the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island which connected its namesake cities. It opened in two sections in 1834 and 1835 - one of the Rail transport in the United States, first rail ...
(B&P) was chartered on June 22, 1831, to build a rail line between its two namesake cities. Construction began in late 1832, and the B&P opened from Park Square, Boston to Canton in 1834. The remaining section of the B&P main line from Canton to
Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
opened the following year with the completion of the
Canton Viaduct Canton Viaduct is a blind arcade cavity wall railroad viaduct in Canton, Massachusetts, built in 1834–35 for the Boston and Providence Railroad (B&P). At its completion, it was the longest () and tallest () railroad viaduct in the world; toda ...
. The B&P, like many early railroads, was primarily intended for intercity travel; the only intermediate stations north of Canton were at Dedham Plain (later called Readville) and Pierpont Village (later called Roxbury Crossing). (However, there was also an early
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 ...
at Tollgate where the line crossed the
Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike Washington Street is a street originating in downtown Boston, Massachusetts that extends southwestward to the Massachusetts–Rhode Island state line. The majority of its length outside of the city was built as the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike in th ...
adjacent to one of its toll gates.) Two additional stations in Jamaica Plain were added in 1842:
Jamaica Plain Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of the former Town of Roxbury, now also a part of the City of Boston. The commun ...
at Green Street, and Tollgate at the former flag stop. The B&P began regularly running Dedham Specials (which used the main line to Readville and the
Dedham Branch The Dedham Branch was a spur line of the Boston and Providence Railroad (later acquired by the Old Colony Railroad, and then by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad), opened in 1835, which ran from the junction with the main line (now th ...
to
Dedham station Dedham (formerly Dedham Center) was a train station located in central Dedham, Massachusetts, at the terminus of the Dedham Branch. Original station The original Dedham station stood near the intersection of Eastern Avenue and High Streets. It o ...
) in June 1842, which made commuting from Tollgate and the other intermediate stations possible. A second track from Roxbury Crossing to Readville was added in 1845. A small station building at Tollgate was added that year, and several businesses soon sprung up around the station. On June 3, 1850, the B&P opened a second branch to Dedham – this one from Tollgate via
West Roxbury West Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts bordered by Roslindale and Jamaica Plain to the northeast, the town of Brookline to the north, the cities and towns of Newton and Needham to the northwest and the town of Dedham to the ...
. Commuter traffic on the B&P – which had numbered just 320 daily passengers from the eight stations north of Readville in 1849 – was rapidly expanding. The railroad cut sharply into the profits of the private turnpike; it became a free public road south of Dedham in 1843, and north of Dedham in 1857. Although the station and surrounding village retained the name "Tollgate" for some time, by the 1870s they were called Forest Hills after the
Forest Hills Cemetery Forest Hills Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery, greenspace, arboretum and sculpture garden located in the Forest Hills section of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery was established in 1848 as a public ...
, which was founded nearby in 1848.


Horsecars and streetcars

The railroad would soon face its own competition in the form of
horsecar A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...
lines. The West Roxbury Railroad opened from South Street at McBride Street in Jamaica Plain ( north of Forest Hills station) to Roxbury Crossing in 1857. It was immediately acquired by the Metropolitan Railroad and connected to its existing trackage, providing service from Jamaica Plain to downtown Boston. After the former Turnpike (soon renamed Washington Street) became a free public road in 1857, a horsecar line was constructed on it between Tollgate and existing tracks at Dudley Square. Most horsecar service in Boston was consolidated under the
West End Street Railway The West End Street Railway was a streetcar company that operated in Boston, Massachusetts and several surrounding communities in the late nineteenth century. Originally an offshoot of a land development venture, the West End rose to prominence ...
in 1887. Electric streetcar service in Boston began with the Beacon Street line in 1888; the Washington Street line was electrified on September 2, 1890. The West End built its first Forest Hills Yard (renamed Arborway Yard in 1924) in 1895. The West End was acquired by 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 ...
(BERy) in 1897. The line on South Street was extended to Forest Hills Yard in 1902; through service to the
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 ...
on the Arborway Line began in 1915. The Washington Street and South Street lines converged at Forest Hills Square, just east of the station; a covered platform was built there to aid transfers.


Raising the railroad

Between 1891 and 1897, the
New Haven Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...
raised its main line from just south of
Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and t ...
to Forest Hills onto a 4-track stone embankment to eliminate dangerous grade crossings. The Forest Hills viaduct was designed by
Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...
as an important element of the
Emerald Necklace The Emerald Necklace consists of a chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. It was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, and gets its name from the way the planned chain appears ...
. Five new local stations in Dorchester and Jamaica, including Forest Hills, opened on June 1, 1897. The station building at Forest Hills was similar to the still-extant station at
Norwood Central Norwood Central station is an MBTA Commuter Rail Franklin Line station located near downtown Norwood, Massachusetts. The station has two side platforms serving the two tracks of the Franklin Branch, each with a MBTA accessibility#mini-high, mini ...
, built two years later.


Elevated station

On November 22, 1909, the
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 ...
was extended from to Forest Hills, with a grand elevated station and a maintenance facility located between Hyde Park Avenue and the mainline tracks. As with most
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 ...
stations, Forest Hills was designed for efficient streetcar-to-elevated transfers; Forest Hills and nearby
Arborway Arborway (also known as The Arborway) consists of a four-lane, divided parkway and a two lane residential street in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 1890s as the south most ...
became major streetcar hubs. Designed by Edmund M. Wheelwright, the station was called "the
chef-d'œuvre A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
of rapid transit development in Boston". The New Haven Railroad briefly operated high-frequency local service from Forest Hills to
South Station South Station, officially The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station, is the largest railroad station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston and New England's second-largest transportation center after Logan In ...
, but it failed to compete with the El and was cut back. The five local stops were abandoned on September 29, 1940. The Forest Hills stop alone was revived in June 1973 for
Needham Line The Needham Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running west from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, and the town of Needham. The second-shortest line of the system at just ...
service, although by 1976 it was used by less than 50 riders a day, versus 15,000 at the Elevated station.


Southwest Corridor

From 1979 to 1987, Forest Hills was completely rebuilt as an intermodal transfer station as part of the Southwest Corridor project. The project involved removing the century-old viaduct and moving the tracks into a trench with three mainline tracks plus two Orange Line tracks to replace the aging Washington Street Elevated. The new rapid transit stations mirror the locations of the former mainline stations between Forest Hills and Back Bay. Needham Line service was suspended on October 13, 1979; Providence/Stoughton Line and Franklin Line service (which do not stop) were rerouted over the
Fairmount Line The Fairmount Line or Dorchester Branch is a line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Except for a short portion in Milton, it lies entirely within Boston, running southwest from South Station through the neighborh ...
on November 3, 1979. The Forest Hills viaduct was destroyed with a
controlled explosion A controlled explosion is a method for detonating or disabling a suspected explosive device. Methods which are used to set off a controlled explosion include clearing the area and using a bomb disposal robot to attach a shaped charge to the susp ...
on November 12, 1983; work on the new station began on June 1, 1984. The $38 million station, designed by
Cambridge Seven Associates Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc. (stylized as CambridgeSeven, and sometimes as C7A) is an American architecture firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Buildings designed by the firm have included academic, museum, exhibit, hospitality, transpo ...
, was constructed of brick, steel and glass; it was meant to resemble a
greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...
to fit in with the surrounding parks. The station's $120,000
clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...
has become a local landmark; it is mirrored by four interior clocks. Orange Line service on the El ended on May 4, 1987, and began on the Southwest Corridor on May 7. The corridor reopened to commuter rail and Amtrak on October 5, 1987, though Needham Line service did not resume until October 19. The new station included streetcar loops on the north end of the station for the relocated
Arborway Arborway (also known as The Arborway) consists of a four-lane, divided parkway and a two lane residential street in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 1890s as the south most ...
station, also signed as "Forest Hills", to allow closer connections than were available at Arborway. The small station included waiting shelters, maps and a turnaround loop. On December 28, 1985, the Arborway Line (
Green Line E branch The E branch (also referred to as the Huntington Avenue branch, or formerly as the Arborway Line) is a light rail line in Boston, Cambridge, Medford, and Somerville, Massachusetts, operating as part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Auth ...
) service was "temporarily" suspended while construction work was performed in the
Huntington Avenue subway The E branch (also referred to as the Huntington Avenue branch, or formerly as the Arborway Line) is a light rail line in Boston, Cambridge, Medford, and Somerville, Massachusetts, operating as part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Auth ...
. Service was restored to
Brigham Circle Brigham Circle is located at the intersection of Tremont Street and Huntington Avenue in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The commercial center of Mission Hill, it forms the southern tip of the Longwood Medical Area. The ...
on July 26, 1986 and Heath Street on November 4, 1989. However, service was never restored to Forest Hills due to the MBTA's objection to running streetcars in mixed traffic. Restoration of Green Line trolley service to
Arborway Arborway (also known as The Arborway) consists of a four-lane, divided parkway and a two lane residential street in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 1890s as the south most ...
was part of
air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...
remediation promised for 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& ...
, but a lawsuit mandating the return of service was defeated in court in January 2011, nullifying plans to restore service. A bicycle cage – the first MBTA " Pedal and Park" cage in Boston – opened at Forest Hills on September 28, 2009. Work performed as part of the
Casey Overpass Arborway (also known as The Arborway) consists of a four-lane, divided parkway and a two lane residential street in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 1890s as the south most ...
removal, which began in 2015, involved a rebuilt upper busway and a second Orange Line headhouse. The canopy was constructed as a $11 million change order to the Arborway project. The never-used Green Line loops and waiting area near the north entrance to Forest Hills were demolished. The headhouse opened on November 6, 2019. In August 2020, the MBTA awarded a $6.9 million design contract for additional renovations including repair or replacement of the curtain wall, replacement of the existing elevators, and a new elevator connecting the two busways. Design began in April 2021 and is expected to be completed in early 2023; construction is not yet funded. On April 5, 2021, the final weekday outbound
Providence/Stoughton Line The Providence/Stoughton Line is an MBTA Commuter Rail service in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, primarily serving the southwestern suburbs of Boston. Most service runs entirely on the Northeast Corridor between South Station in Boston and Provi ...
train began stopping at Forest Hills to serve as a transfer train to the
Needham Line The Needham Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running west from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, and the town of Needham. The second-shortest line of the system at just ...
, as the final weekday Needham-bound train originates there. The entire Orange Line was closed from August 19 to September 18, 2022. Some Providence/Stoughton Line trains stopped at the station to provide alternate service; some Franklin Line trains began stopping on September 3. Some of the additional commuter rail stopping service – eight peak Franklin Line trains and one midday train to Providence – was retained after the Orange Line closure.


Station layout

Orange Line trains use both tracks; a crossover north of the platforms allows trains to switch tracks for regular
right-hand drive Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes referred to ...
operation on the rest of the line. Needham Line trains primarily use Track 5 which leads directly to the branch, but may also use Track 3. Passing commuter rail trains use tracks 3, 1, and 2; Amtrak trains generally use tracks 1 and 2 because Track 3 was not originally electrified.


Bus connections

Forest Hills serves as a major bus transfer station; 16
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 terminate at the station. Routes 16, 21, 31, 32, and 42 run on Hyde Park Avenue, Washington Street (north of the station), and the Arborway, and use the lower busway located off Hyde Park Avenue east of the station. The remaining nine routes run on South Street and Washington Street; they use the upper busway west of the station. Route 39 buses formerly used loops off New Washington Street built for
Green Line E branch The E branch (also referred to as the Huntington Avenue branch, or formerly as the Arborway Line) is a light rail line in Boston, Cambridge, Medford, and Somerville, Massachusetts, operating as part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Auth ...
streetcar service in the 1980s but never used as such. On October 14, 2017, it was permanently rerouted to the upper busway during removal of the Casey Overpass. *: Forest Hills station– or Harbor Point *: –Forest Hills station *: –Forest Hills station via Cummins Highway and
Roslindale Square Roslindale Village station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station on the Needham Line, located in the Roslindale Square business district of the Roslindale neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. The station has a single side platform serving the lin ...
*: Mattapan station–Forest Hills station via
Morton Street Morton Street is a street in southern Boston, Massachusetts. It extends from the southeastern end of the Arborway in Jamaica Plain to Washington Street in the Lower Mills Village of Dorchester. Most of the road is a connecting parkway, signed ...
*: Wolcott or Cleary Square–Forest Hills station *: Dedham Square–Forest Hills station *: Walpole Center–Forest Hills station *: Dedham Mall or Stimson Street–Forest Hills station *:
Millennium Park Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago, operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The park, opened in 2004 and intended to celebrate the third millennium, is a prominent civic center near ...
or VA Hospital–Forest Hills station *: Baker Street & Vermont Street–Forest Hills station *: Wren Street–Forest Hills station *: Forest Hills station– *: Georgetowne–Forest Hills *: Forest Hills station– *: Cleary Square–Forest Hills station *: –Forest Hills station Route , a single early-morning trip intended for fare collectors but open to the general public, also stops at Forest Hills.


References


External links


MBTA – Forest HillsCambridge Seven Associates project page

Station from Google Maps Street View
{{MBTA Subway Stations Jamaica Plain, Boston Orange Line (MBTA) stations Railway stations in Boston Railway stations located underground in Boston MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Boston Stations on the Northeast Corridor Railway stations in the United States opened in 1909 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1987 Stations along Old Colony Railroad lines Stations along Boston and Providence Railroad lines Railway stations in the United States opened in 1842 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1897 Railway stations closed in 1940 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1973 Railway stations closed in 1979 MBTA subway stations located underground