Waban station

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.

Waban
An outbound train at Waban station in March 2022
General information
LocationBeacon Street and Waban Square
Newton, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°19′33″N 71°13′50″W
Line(s)Highland branch
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Construction
Parking74 spaces; paid
Bicycle facilities12 spaces
AccessibleNo
History
OpenedJuly 4, 1959[1]
Passengers
2011 daily545[2]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Woodland
toward Riverside
 Green Line Eliot
toward Union Square
Former services
Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station
Woodland
toward Riverside
 Highland branch Eliot
toward Boston
Location

History
Waban station on a 1907 postcard

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.[3]

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.[4] A preliminary design contract for accessibility modifications at the four stations was issued in February 2021.[5][6] Design reached 75% in June 2022 and was completed late that year.[7][8] As of June 2023, construction is expected to be advertised in mid-2023 and begin later in the year.[9]

References
  1. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
  2. "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.
  3. Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl (June 1988). "Architecture for the Boston & Albany Railroad: 1881-1894". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 47 (2): 109–131. doi:10.2307/990324. JSTOR 990324.
  4. "Preview of 2019 Recommendations: Presentation to the FMCB" (PDF). Plan for Accessible Transit Infrastructure (PATI). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. April 1, 2019. p. 12.
  5. "D Branch Station Accessibility Improvements". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on March 19, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  6. "D Branch Station Accessibility Improvements: Waban, Eliot, Chestnut Hill, Beaconsfield: Virtual Public Meeting" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. April 29, 2021.
  7. "D Branch Station Accessibility Improvements: Beaconsfield, Chestnut Hill, Eliot, Waban: Public Meeting" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. June 23, 2022.
  8. "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—December 2022" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. December 6, 2022. p. 4.
  9. "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—June 2023" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. June 5, 2023. p. 4.

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