Back Bay station

View of station from Berkeley Street overpass, looking westward. From left to right: Tracks 2, 1, 3; Orange Line tracks and train; Tracks 5 and 7.

There are 5 tracks serving Amtrak and commuter rail service. Tracks 2, 1, and 3 (in order south to north) serve Amtrak's Acela Express and Northeast Regional plus the MBTA's Providence/Stoughton Line, Franklin/Foxboro Line, and Needham Line. Tracks 5 and 7 on the Framingham/Worcester Line and the Lake Shore Limited serve westbound trains from a separate island platform.[4] Tracks 1 and 2 are considered the primary mainline tracks; the track numbering scheme used in the Boston area uses only odd numbers for additional tracks on the Track 1 side (hence Tracks 3, 5, and 7) and even numbers for tracks on the Track 2 side.[4] The Orange Line tracks and platforms lie between these two groups of mainline rail tracks.

Back Bay is fully accessible. The station has full-length high-level platforms on the three Northeast Corridor tracks, and a mini-high platform for the Worcester Line tracks. Elevators are available to access all platforms from the street-level station building.

The main station building is located between Dartmouth Street and Clarendon Street; however, there are secondary exits from the platforms onto Dartmouth Street, Clarendon Street, and Columbus Avenue. The Dartmouth Street Underpass connects the Copley Place shopping mall with the main station building. The underpass was closed from March 6, 2016 to June 1, 2017 during construction at Copley Place, during which it was given some refurbishment.[5][6]

Columbus Avenue station in 1898

The 1899-built Back Bay station on an early postcard

The Boston and Worcester Railroad opened from downtown Boston to Newton in 1834, and to Worcester within the next several years. The Boston and Providence Railroad opened from Park Square to East Providence later that year. The two lines crossed on causeways in the Back Bay, then still used as a mill pond.[7] Around 1880, the Boston and Albany Railroad (descendant of the B&W) opened its Columbus Avenue station to serve new developments on the filled bay.[8][9][10] In 1897, the New Haven Railroad (which owned the Boston and Providence and leased the Old Colony Railroad), the New York and New England Railroad, and the Boston and Albany formed the Boston Terminal Company to consolidate their four terminals into a new union station.

Simultaneous with the construction of the resulting South Station in 1899, the New Haven also built its first Back Bay Station just east of Dartmouth Street to compete with the B&A's Columbus Avenue station. Back Bay station opened on September 19, 1899 – the same day that Providence Division trains began using South Station.[11] The next year, the B&A replaced Columbus Avenue station with the westbound-only Trinity Place and eastbound-only Huntington Avenue stations.[12]

The current Back Bay Station opened on May 4, 1987, as part of the Orange Line's Southwest Corridor project and was dedicated by Governor Michael Dukakis.[13] It replaced the 1899-built and 1929-rebuilt ex-New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad station of the same name, of which some remnants can still be found at the eastern end of the present station facilities, including a carved stone embedded in the brick wall on the east side of Columbus Avenue.[14] The reopened station had South End as a secondary name, approved in 1985 as part of a series of station name changes.[15]

The 1987 reconstruction added a waiting area with a 9-foot bronze statue dedicated to civil rights and labor movement pioneer A. Philip Randolph. The area includes various posters with historical photographs and interview excerpts regarding Randolph's career in organizing the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and work with the Civil Rights Movement.

In 1990, a northbound commuter train running along the Providence/Stoughton Line was involved in a collision with a northbound Night Owl train. The accident, which occurred at the west end of Back Bay, injured 453 people, although there were no fatalities.[16]

On September 22, 2006, the MBTA began allowing free inbound travel from Back Bay to South Station. This change was to allow travel from Back Bay hotels to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and Logan International Airport (using the Silver Line from South Station) without the need to transfer to the Red Line.[17] Until replaced with the CharlieCard Store at Downtown Crossing on August 13, 2012, an MBTA customer service booth for special pass users was located at Back Bay station.[18] The entire Orange Line, including the Orange Line platforms at Back Bay station, was closed from August 19 to September 18, 2022, during maintenance work. Amtrak and MBTA Commuter Rail service to the station was not changed.[19]

Air quality

Northeast Corridor platforms at Back Bay in 2011; fumes in the air cause the halos around the ceiling lights

Back Bay station has suffered from poor air quality since its opening; passengers with lung conditions have been advised to avoid the station. Much of the commuter rail infrastructure at Back Bay is covered and enclosed, and so diesel fumes cannot escape quickly to the outside air. A petition drive in 2000 gathered complaints about the then-"longstanding" issue.[20] Studies in 2006 and 2008 showed that "the air was many, many times below air-quality standards" due to trapped diesel exhaust and soot. An earlier study showed elevated levels of carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, particulates, and oxides of nitrogen, though it noted that there is no regulated standard to meet for indoor air quality in public spaces.

Though simple changes were made regarding scheduling, and checking to make sure train engines were running properly, in 2008 the MBTA claimed it lacked the financial resources to fully upgrade the ventilation system.[21]

In 2010, the MBTA announced that it had secured $3.0 million in federal stimulus money to improve the ventilation in the lobby.[22][23][24] While MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said there was no health threat, a scientist at the Clean Air Task Force, a Boston-based nonprofit pollution research group stated, "Honestly, down on the platform it was some of the worst air quality I've measured." Additionally passengers and clerks working in the station have complained. The MBTA said then that it would complete an improved ventilation system by 2012.[25]

On October 8, 2014, Amtrak removed its customer service and ticketing agents from the station due to the persistent air quality issues. Back Bay was to be an unstaffed station "until further notice" as improvements are made.[26] Amtrak personnel returned in 2015, but Amtrak pulled them again effective October 1, 2016.[27]

The station has remained unstaffed since then, though two Quik-Trak kiosks are available. However, baggage cannot be checked at the station. Despite being unstaffed, it remains one of the busiest Amtrak stations in the country. In 2018, it was the fourth-busiest Amtrak station in New England (behind South Station, Providence and New Haven Union) and the 16th-busiest nationwide.[28]

A $10 million ventilation project, funded equally by MassDOT and Boston Properties, was bid in 2016. The work will improve ventilation at the platform level and add "air curtains" to prevent exhaust fumes from reaching the concourse.[29] As of 2019, final designs are due to be submitted in 2020, and the work is expected to take until at least 2022.[30]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Back Bay station.

• Boston, MA–Back Bay – Amtrak
• Boston, MA–Back Bay – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• Back Bay – MBTA
• Boston Back Bay station – USA Rail Guide (Train Web)
• Library of Congress. Historic American Buildings Survey. Back Bay Station, 145 Dartmouth Street, 1979.