Shawmut station

Shawmut station is a subway station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the Ashmont branch of the MBTA's Red Line. It is located on Dayton Street in the Dorchester neighborhood. The station, the only underground station on the Red Line south of Andrew station, sits in a shallow cut-and-cover subway tunnel that runs from Park Street south to Peabody Square where it surfaces at Ashmont station. Shawmut opened along with Ashmont on September 1, 1928, as part of a southward extension of the Cambridge–Dorchester line.

Shawmut
Shawmut station headhouse in August 2016
General information
LocationDayton Street at Clementine Park
Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates42.29371°N 71.06591°W / 42.29371; -71.06591
Line(s)Ashmont Branch (Shawmut Branch)
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
AccessibleYes
History
Opened1872 (original station)
September 1, 1928 (rapid transit)[1]
Closed1926 (original station)
Rebuilt1981, 2004–2009
Previous namesMelville Avenue; Centre Street
Passengers
FY20192,286 boardings (weekday average)[2]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Ashmont
Terminus
 Red Line Fields Corner
toward Alewife
Former services
Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station
Ashmont
toward Mattapan
 Boston–​Mattapan Fields Corner
toward Boston
Location

Shawmut station has two side platforms serving the line's two tracks. The headhouse connects the two platforms and serves as a free crossover between them, with two elevators from the paid lobby to each platform. Emergency exits near the south end of the platforms lead to small brick buildings on the entrance plaza. Shawmut does not have any MBTA bus connections because the station is located in a residential neighborhood away from major streets.

History

Shawmut Branch Railroad
Shawmut station in 1926 shortly before it was closed to make way for the subway extension

In 1872, the Old Colony Railroad took over the Shawmut Branch Railroad, which branched off the main line at Harrison Square and ran through Dorchester to Milton.[3] The branch line originally included stations at Melville Avenue and Centre Street, just one-quarter mile apart, which were consolidated into Shawmut station on October 11, 1884.[4][5][6] Shawmut station was located between Mather and Centre streets on the east side of the tracks.[7]

The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad acquired the Old Colony and took over operations in 1893.[8] In 1924, the Boston Elevated Railway bought the Shawmut Branch Railroad and part of the Milton Branch in preparation for extending the Cambridge–Dorchester line, although New Haven trains ran on the line until 1926.[3]

Rapid transit conversion
Shawmut station in 1929, shortly after opening

The Shawmut Branch reopened as a rapid transit extension in two sections: to Fields Corner (with intermediate stops along the Old Colony mainline at Columbia and Savin Hill) in November 1927, then further to Ashmont with an intermediate stop at Shawmut on September 1, 1928.[1] The Cambridge–Dorchester line became the Red Line in August 1965.[1]

The station was retrofitted in 1981 to accommodate six-car trains, which started service in 1988.[1] The station was originally built with 420-foot platforms, making in the only pre-WWII station on the line designed for six-car trains.[9]

The MBTA issued a $4.3 million design contract for renovations of Ashmont, Shawmut, and Fields Corner stations on May 3, 2001.[10]: 24  Shawmut and Fields Corner reached 100% design by January 10, 2003; Ashmont was delayed due to design changes.[10]: 25  The MBTA broke ground for the Red Line Rehabilitation Project – a $67 million reconstruction of Shawmut, Fields Corner, and Savin Hill stations – in October 2003.[11] Construction began in March 2004.[12]

Unlike the other two stations, which were completely rebuilt, Shawmut received more modest changes.[11] Extensions in the original style were built on both sides of the headhouse to accommodate redundant elevators for accessibility, required by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The historic headhouse and platforms were also restored, and new landscaping built around the station for walkability and noise control.[13] Original plans to include public art as part of the Arts on the Line program were removed in budget cuts; only historical interpretive panels were installed.[14][15] The modernization was completed in 2009.[16]

Buses will replace service on the Ashmont Branch from October 14–29, 2023, to allow for track work.[17][18]

References
  1. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
  2. "A Guide to Ridership Data". MassDOT/MBTA Office of Performance Management and Innovation. June 22, 2020. p. 10.
  3. Karr, Ronald Dale (2010). Lost Railroads of New England (Third ed.). Branch Line Press. p. 105. ISBN 9780942147117.
  4. Cheney, Frank (2002). Boston's Red Line: Bridging the Charles from Alewife to Braintree. Arcadia Publishing. p. 90. ISBN 9780738510477.
  5. "Part of Ward 16, Dorchester". Atlas of County of Suffolk, MA Vol. 3. G.M. Hopkins & Co. 1874 – via Ward Maps.
  6. Jacobs, Warren (October 1928). "Dates of Some of the Principal Events in the History of 100 Years of the Railroad in New England. 1826–1926". Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin. Railway and Locomotive Historical Society. 17 (17): 15–28. JSTOR 43504499.
  7. "Part of Ward 24, Dorchester, City of Boston". Atlas of the City of Boston, Vol. 5. 1889 – via Ward Maps.
  8. Leo S. (December 26, 2009). "Railroad Stations in Dorchester". Dorchester Atheneum. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
  9. O'Regan, Gerry (2005). "MBTA Red Line". nycsubway.org. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
  10. Official Audit Report – Issued June 16, 2014: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, For the period January 1, 2005 through December 31, 2012 (PDF) (Report). Auditor of the Commonwealth. June 16, 2014.
  11. "MBTA Breaks Ground On Three New Red Line Stations" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. October 7, 2003. Archived from the original on December 2, 2003.
  12. "Red Line Rehabilitation Project To Begin" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. March 5, 2004. Archived from the original on April 18, 2004.
  13. "MBTA Shawmut Station: Architectural design for restoration of historic subway station headhouse and improvements to platforms". Cambridge Seven Associates. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  14. Slack, Donovan (April 19, 2003). "Budget cuts leave no room for art at Dorchester T stops". Boston Globe. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  15. "On the Red Line" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2017. pp. 10, 11.
  16. "Governor Patrick Celebrates Ashmont Station Completion". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. October 21, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  17. Dumcius, Gintautas (August 24, 2023). "MBTA to shut down Ashmont, Mattapan branches in October". Dorchester Reporter. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  18. "MBTA to Expedite Critical Track Work Between JFK/UMass and Ashmont Stations and on the Mattapan Line, Shuttle Buses to Replace Service on Ashmont Branch and Mattapan Line October 14-29" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. August 24, 2023.
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