Newton Centre station

Newton Centre is a light rail station on the MBTA Green Line D branch, located in the Newton Centre village of Newton, Massachusetts. A former regional rail station, it was converted for light rail use and reopened on July 4, 1959, along with the rest of the line. The 1891-built station and express office are part of the Newton Railroad Stations Historic District, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Newton Centre
Newton Centre station in March 2016
Location70 Union Street
Newton Centre, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°19′46″N 71°11′33″W
Owned byMassachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)Highland Branch
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Connections MBTA bus: 52
Construction
Bicycle facilities15 spaces
Disabled accessYes
History
Opened1852; July 4, 1959[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2013)1,891 (weekday average boardings)[2]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Newton Highlands
toward Riverside
 Green Line Chestnut Hill
toward Government Center
Former services
Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station
Newton Highlands
toward Riverside
 Highland Branch Chestnut Hill
toward Boston

History
Newton Centre station shortly after the 1907 track lowering

The first station at this site opened in 1852 on Langley Road as a part of the Charles River Railroad.[3] The Boston and Albany Railroad commissioned a building which design was started by H. H. Richardson in 1886, the year of his death, and which design was finished by Richardson’s successor firm of Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge. The new station, built by the Norcross Brothers firm of Worcester, opened in 1891.[4] The station was heavily modified in 1907 when the line was sunk below grade to eliminate street crossings.[4]

The Highland Branch was closed in 1958 and quickly converted for light rail use. The station building was rented out as commercial space. Until 2008, it housed a Starbucks coffee shop containing a sign that indicated when a Boston-bound train arrived. However, the shop was closed in October 2008 as part of Starbucks' restructuring campaign due to the Great Recession.[5] The Deluxe Station Diner, a satellite restaurant of the Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown, opened in the newly renovated building in December 2010.[6][7]

In the early 2000s, the MBTA modified key surface stops with raised platforms for accessibility as part of the Light Rail Accessibility Program. The renovation of Newton Centre was completed around 2002.[8][9] Around 2006, the MBTA added a wooden mini-high platform on the inbound side, allowing level boarding on older Type 7 LRVs. These platforms were installed at eleven Green Line stations in 2006–07 as part of the settlement of Joanne Daniels-Finegold, et al. v. MBTA.[10][11]

In October 2012, the MBTA changed the station name from Newton Center to Newton Centre to match the village name.[12][13]

References
  1. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit.
  2. "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.
  3. "Discover Historic Newton Centre" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-10-20. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
  4. Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. p. 198. ISBN 9780942147087.
  5. "Newton Centre Starbucks is shuttered". Boston Globe. 26 October 2008. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  6. Thomas, Sarah (25 May 2010). "Deluxe Town Diner takes another step toward opening in Newton". Boston Globe. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  7. Reibman, Greg (8 December 2010). "Deluxe Station Diner set to open in Newton Centre". Wicked Local Newton. Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  8. "Subway Service". Ridership and Service Statistics. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. October 2003. p. 2.19 – via Internet Archive.
  9. "Executive Summary" (PDF). Program of Mass Transportation. Boston Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization. January 2004. p. 2-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 20, 2012.
  10. "Settlement Agreement" (PDF). Joanne Daniels-Finegold et al. v. MBTA. April 10, 2006. pp. 10–11.
  11. "Green Line Stations Upgraded to Improve Accessibility" (PDF). TRANSReport. Boston Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization. June 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2011.
  12. "Newton Center Station". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on October 10, 2012.
  13. "Newton Centre Station". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012.

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