Malden Center (MBTA station)

MALDEN CENTER
MALDEN CENTER

Malden Center station viewed from the Commercial Street busway on the east side of the station
Location Commercial Street at Pleasant Street
Malden, Massachusetts 02148
Coordinates 42°25′36″N 71°04′28″W / 42.426715°N 71.074349°W / 42.426715; -71.074349Coordinates: 42°25′36″N 71°04′28″W / 42.426715°N 71.074349°W / 42.426715; -71.074349
Owned by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)
  Haverhill Line
  Orange Line
Platforms 1 side platform (Haverhill Line)
1 island platform (Orange Line)
Tracks 1 (Haverhill Line)
2 (Orange Line)
Construction
Parking 188 spaces ($6.00 fee)
4 accessible spaces
Bicycle facilities 104 spaces in "Pedal and Park" bicycle cage
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Fare zone 1A
History
Opened December 27, 1975 (Orange Line)[1]
Rebuilt May 1, 1977 (Haverhill Line)[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2012) 102 daily boardings[2] (Haverhill Line)
Passengers (2013) 12,686 daily boardings[3] (Orange Line)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station
Terminus
Haverhill Line
toward Haverhill
toward Forest Hills
Orange Line
Terminus

Malden Center is an intermodal transit station located on an elevated grade above Pleasant Street in downtown Malden, Massachusetts. It serves the rapid transit MBTA Orange Line and the MBTA Commuter Rail Haverhill Line, as well as 13 MBTA Bus routes. The current station opened on December 27, 1975, replacing an older brick station which has since been repurposed as a restaurant.

History

Malden Pearl Street station in 1906

The Boston and Maine Railroad ran trains to Pearl Street Station, several blocks north of the modern station site, after the line was elevated around 1900. Pearl Street Station remained open as the new elevated station was built.

The new Malden station opened on December 27, 1975, as part of the MBTA's Haymarket North Extension of the Orange Line. Expansion to Malden had been a long-time goal of the Boston Elevated Railway, and the Everett extension of the Charlestown Elevated was originally planned to go past Everett and into Malden and Reading via Main Street. However, residents of Malden were opposed to the elevated railroad structure that was planned, and prevented the extension. The 1975 extension was built along the existing Haverhill Line embankment and was considered less disruptive than a separate, fully elevated railroad would have been.

Pearl Street Station closed simultaneously with the opening of the Orange Line station; the station building is now a restaurant. A high-level platform - the first on the MBTA system - was installed along the Reading Line track, but Reading Line trains did not stop. The platform opened for regular service on May 1, 1977.[1] It was again closed on September 1, 1979 due to low usage. On January 20, 1984, a fire destroyed the approach trestle to the Charles River Bridge at North Station; Haverhill Line trains were run to Oak Grove. North Station reopened on April 20, 1985; the commuter platform at Oak Grove closed but the platform at Malden was reopened.[1]

In 2005, a renovation added a second exit stairwell and two elevators, making the station handicapped accessible.[4]

Because of its Orange Line connection, Malden Center can serve as a temporary inbound terminus for the Haverhill Line when commuter rail service is disrupted between Malden and Boston's North Station. It served this role in 2016 during reconstruction work on the Woods Memorial Bridge, which carries the Revere Beach Parkway over the rail lines and the Malden River.[5]

Bus connections

Malden Station is a major bus transfer station, with 13 routes serving the station via its two busways.

Station layout

Orange Line (left) and Haverhill Line platforms

The station, located on a high grade, is one of a small number of elevated rapid transit stations remaining in the MBTA system. (The only others are Science Park, Beachmont, Wollaston, Charles/MGH, and Fields Corner.) Boston once had several elevated lines, but the Atlantic Avenue Elevated, Charlestown Elevated, Washington Street Elevated, and Causeway Elevated were all torn down in favor of subway and surface-level lines.

Platforms Southbound ← Orange Line toward Forest Hills (Wellington)
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Northbound → Orange Line toward Oak Grove (Terminus) →
Commuter rail ← Haverhill Line →
Side platform, doors will open on the left, right
Ground Street level, lobby Fare barriers, entrance/exit

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Belcher, Jonathan (22 March 2014). "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  2. ↑ Humphrey, Thomas J. (21 December 2012). "MBTA Commuter Rail Passenger Count Results" (PDF). Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14 ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Tran Systems and Planners Collaborative (24 August 2007). "Evaluation of MBTA Paratransit and Accessible Fixed Route Transit Services: Final Report" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  5. ↑ "Commuter Rail Service Alerts: Haverhill Line". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 11 May 2016. Archived from the original on 19 May 2016.
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