Waban station explained

Waban
Style:MBTA
Style2:Green
Address:Beacon Street and Waban Square
Borough:Newton, Massachusetts
Line:Highland branch
Coordinates:42.3258°N -71.2306°W
Platform:2 side platforms
Tracks:2
Parking:74 spaces; paid
Bicycle:12 spaces
Accessible:No
Opened:July 4, 1959
Passengers:545
Pass Year:2011 daily
Other Services Header:Former services
Other Services Collapsible:yes
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Marker:rail-light
Mapframe-Zoom:14

Waban station is a surface-level light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Green Line D branch, located just south of Beacon Street at Waban Square in the Waban section of Newton, Massachusetts. The station is located below grade; access to both platforms is via Wyman Street on the outbound side of the tracks or a stairway from Beacon Street. Waban is not accessible.

History

Waban formerly boasted an H.H. Richardson-designed train station, like those still standing in Newton Highlands and Newton Centre. The original station was completed in August 1886 as part of the Boston and Albany Railroad's Highland branch and was one of the last stations designed by Richardson before his death in April 1886.[1]

Waban closed along with the rest of the Highland branch commuter rail line in 1958 and reopened on July 4, 1959, as part of the light rail D branch. The H. H. Richardson station was demolished in order to build a 57-space parking lot.

The station has two MBTA ticket machines for reloading stored-value CharlieCards and buying CharlieTickets, as well one fare validation machine. All three are enclosed in a heated passenger shed near the center of the inbound platform. On May 28, 2008, two westbound Green Line trains collided between Waban and Woodland, killing one person.

In 2019, the MBTA indicated that the four remaining non-accessible stops on the D branch were "Tier I" accessibility priorities.[2] A preliminary design contract for accessibility modifications at the four stations was issued in February 2021.[3] [4] Design reached 75% in June 2022 and was completed late that year.[5] [6] Plans shown in March 2024 called for the platforms to be rebuilt in their existing configuration.[7]

By November 2023, construction was expected to be advertised in early 2024 and begin midyear.[8] However, in June 2024, the MBTA indicated that the renovations at the four stations would be done in two phases. The first phase – sections of accessible platform similar to those previously installed at, and some entrances made accessible – was expected to be complete by the end of the year, with a full renovation to take place later.[9]

External links

Notes and References

  1. 990324 . Architecture for the Boston & Albany Railroad: 1881-1894 . Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians . Jeffrey Karl . Ochsner . 47 . 2 . June 1988 . 109–131 . 10.2307/990324.
  2. Web site: Preview of 2019 Recommendations: Presentation to the FMCB . Plan for Accessible Transit Infrastructure (PATI) . 12 . April 1, 2019 . Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  3. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20210319204214/https://www.mbta.com/projects/d-branch-station-accessibility-improvements . March 19, 2021 . D Branch Station Accessibility Improvements . Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority . March 23, 2021 . dead .
  4. Web site: D Branch Station Accessibility Improvements: Waban, Eliot, Chestnut Hill, Beaconsfield: Virtual Public Meeting . April 29, 2021 . Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  5. Web site: D Branch Station Accessibility Improvements: Beaconsfield, Chestnut Hill, Eliot, Waban: Public Meeting . June 23, 2022 . Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  6. Web site: System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—December 2022 . December 6, 2022 . Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility . 4.
  7. Web site: Green Line D Branch Accessibility Upgrades . March 14, 2024 . Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  8. Web site: System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—November 2023 . November 27, 2023 . Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility . 3–4.
  9. Web site: Accessibility Initiatives—June 2024 . June 25, 2024 . Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority . 4.