Chelsea
Two silver buses at a bus stop with large canopies
Silver Line buses at Chelsea station in July 2021
General information
LocationEverett Avenue at Mystic Mall
Chelsea, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°23′48″N 71°02′26″W / 42.396762°N 71.040425°W / 42.396762; -71.040425
Line(s)Eastern Route
Silver Line busway
Platforms2 side platforms (Silver Line)
2 side platforms (commuter rail)
Tracks2 (commuter rail)
ConnectionsBus transport MBTA bus: 112, 114
Construction
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zone1A (commuter rail)
History
OpenedApril 21, 2018 (Silver Line)
November 15, 2021 (commuter rail)
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Terminus Silver Line Bellingham Square
toward South Station
North Station
Terminus
 Newburyport/​Rockport Line River Works
toward Newburyport or Rockport
Location

Chelsea station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) intermodal transit station located adjacent to the Mystic Mall in Chelsea, Massachusetts. It is the terminus of the SL3 route of the MBTA Silver Line bus rapid transit (BRT) network, and is served by the Newburyport/Rockport Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail. The accessible station has a loop with two small platforms for the Silver Line, and two full-length side platforms for commuter rail trains.

East Everett station, located near the modern Chelsea station, was served by the Boston and Maine Railroad and predecessor Eastern Railroad from 1880 until around 1950. Prior to its 2010 cancellation, the Urban Ring Project planned for a circumferential BRT line with a stop at Mystic Mall. Planning continued for the Chelsea segment; a Silver Line extension to Mystic Mall with a new commuter rail station was announced in 2013. Construction began in 2015, and SL3 service to Chelsea station began on April 21, 2018. Commuter rail service began in 2021, replacing the previous station to the east.

Station layout

A passenger train leaving a station with two tracks and two platforms
A commuter rail train at the station

The station is located west of Everett Avenue in the west part of Chelsea, behind the Mystic Mall shopping center. Two 800-foot (240 m)-long high-level side platforms serve the two tracks of the Newburyport/Rockport Line, which runs roughly east–west at the station site. Canopies cover the east ends and portions of the centers of the platforms. Ramps lead to the Everett Avenue grade crossing from the east ends of the platforms, and to the Third Street crossing from the west ends. The Silver Line busway runs along the south side of the commuter rail tracks, crossing Everett Avenue at grade. A balloon loop is located west of Everett Avenue; 12-by-60-foot (3.7 m × 18.3 m) bus platforms with concrete canopies are located on both sides of the loop. The station is accessible on both modes.[1] MBTA bus local routes 112 and 114 stop at Mystic Mall near the station.[2]

History

East Everett station

A section of an old property map, showing a small railroad station next to a three-track rail line
A section of an old property map, showing a small railroad station next to a three-track rail line
East Everett station (left) on an 1897 Sanborn map

The freight-only Grand Junction Railroad opened through Everett and Chelsea in 1852 to serve the East Boston docks.[3]: 336  On April 10, 1854, the Eastern Railroad opened a line from Revere to Boston, with trackage rights over the Grand Junction from Chelsea to Somerville. This replaced the Eastern's 1838-built mainline from Revere to East Boston – which required a ferry connection to reach downtown Boston – as the railroad's primary Boston entry. In 1868, the Eastern built its own tracks on the north side of the Grand Junction tracks.[4]

The Eastern Railroad opened East Everett station in 1880. Located at the end of Boston Street just west of 2nd Street, about 1⁄3 mile (0.5 km) west of the modern station, it served residential areas to the southeast. The one-story wooden station building was constructed by nearby property owners at a cost of $1,000 (equivalent to $26,000 in 2022).[5][6][7] The Eastern Railroad was acquired by the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) in 1885.[4]

Streetcars and later automobiles cut heavily into the profitability of local commuter rail service; the B&M closed the station building in 1932, though some trains continued to stop.[8][9] The building was demolished around 1933.[10] The stop was served by only one weekday-only round trip by 1946, and was abandoned entirely by 1952.[11][12] The remaining local stops on the line south of Lynn were closed in 1958.[4][13]

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) began subsidizing remaining B&M service on the line in 1965; it became the Newburyport/Rockport Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system.[4] On December 27, 1966, an outbound Budd RDC struck an oil tanker truck at the 2nd Street grade crossing, killing 13 people.[3]: 317  The residential neighborhood around 2nd Street, already planned for urban renewal, was destroyed by the Great Chelsea fire of 1973; it was replaced by industry and the Mystic Mall.[14] The Grand Junction tracks in Chelsea were largely unused after the Chelsea Creek bridge burned in 1955. In 2002, CSX Transportation began the process of abandoning the Grand Junction from 2nd Street through Chelsea to East Boston; the proceedings were delayed by negotiations with the city of Chelsea to acquire the right-of-way.[15][16]

MBTA station

Concrete bus shelters next to a graded loop road
The Silver Line station under construction in 2017

Mystic Mall was a proposed stop on the Urban Ring Project – a planned circumferential bus rapid transit (BRT) line designed to connect the current radial MBTA rail lines.[17] Under draft plans released in 2008, a dedicated busway was to be built using the disused Grand Junction right-of-way, paralleling the active commuter rail tracks through Everett and Chelsea. Buses would have left the busway to access new surface-level BRT platforms on Everett Street and Spruce Street. The Chelsea commuter rail station would have been rebuilt at its existing site.[18] The project was shelved in January 2010 due to high costs.[19] That June, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) purchased the disused Grand Junction right-of-way from 2nd Street to East Boston, to be landbanked for future transportation use.[15][3]: 337  Planning for some smaller corridors continued; the Chelsea–South Boston section was given high priority because Chelsea was densely populated yet underserved by transit.[20] A 2011 state study analyzed potential Chelsea transit improvements, including a Silver Line branch or improvements to the route 112 bus. The Silver Line alternatives terminated at the Chelsea commuter rail station or Bellingham Square and did not serve the Mystic Mall area.[21]

In March 2013, the MBTA began studying a possible extension of the Silver Line to Chelsea via a newly constructed bypass road in East Boston. Three alternatives were discussed for the Chelsea section. One would run up the disused section of the Grand Junction Railroad right-of-way from Eastern Avenue to Chelsea station with stops at Eastern Avenue, Highland/Box District, the existing Chelsea station, and Mystic Mall. The second alignment would follow the Grand Junction to just short of Bellingham Square, then diverge onto surface roads to the square. The third alignment would run largely on surface streets, serving two stops on Central Avenue and four stops along a loop serving the existing Chelsea station and the MGH Chelsea healthcare center near Mystic Mall.[22] In September 2013, the MBTA indicated that it would pursue the first alternative despite potential issues with bridge clearances and rebuilding Chelsea station.[23]

A train passing through a station in an urban area
A train passing the nearly-complete platforms in July 2021

On October 30, 2013, MassDOT announced $82.5 million in state funding for construction of a modified version of the first alternative. A new $20 million Chelsea commuter rail station would be constructed at the Mystic Mall busway terminus to replace the existing station. This new station would make the commuter rail station fully accessible, with longer platforms so that trains would not block grade crossings while stopped. The Silver Line would have a new Bellingham Square stop at the old commuter rail station location. Service was expected to begin in late 2015.[24] The Environmental Impact Report was issued in March 2014.[25] A $33.8 million construction contract was approved in September 2014, and construction began in March 2015.[26][27][28] By June 2017, opening had been pushed back to April 2018.[29] Silver Line service to Chelsea on the SL3 route began on April 21, 2018.[30]

The MBTA opened bidding for the contract to construct the new commuter rail station (which also includes installation of several nearby traffic signals and demolition of the existing station) in February 2019, with an expected cost of $26.7 million.[31] A $32.4 million contract was awarded in April 2019, with completion then expected in late 2021.[32] Construction of the project (which has a total cost of $37.7 million) began in August 2019.[33] The supports for the outbound platform were completed by April 2020, and the platforms were installed that August.[34][35] The station reached 70% completion in March 2021.[36] It opened on November 15, 2021, replacing the commuter rail platforms at Bellingham Square (which remains a Silver Line stop).[37] A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on December 15.[38] Service on the inner portion of the Newburyport/Rockport Line was suspended for several periods in March–September 2022 to accommodate signal work on the line.[39]

References

  1. ↑ "Silver Line Gateway: Extension of Silver Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) to Chelsea and East Boston: Public Informational Meeting: Chelsea, MA" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. August 18, 2014. pp. 7, 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 31, 2018.
  2. ↑ "System Map". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 ed.). Branch Line Press. ISBN 9780942147124.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. pp. 75–77. ISBN 9780685412947.
  5. ↑ "A New Railway Station at East Everett". Boston Daily Globe. December 22, 1880. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  6. ↑ "East Everett station, Everett, Mass". Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society. January 27, 2014 – via Flickr.
  7. ↑ Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Everett, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Sanborn Map Company. 1910. Plate 50.
  8. ↑ "Boston & Maine asks right to abandon three stations". Boston Daily Globe. April 21, 1932. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  9. ↑ "B. & M. is granted right to abandon four stations". Boston Daily Globe. June 25, 1932. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  10. ↑ "How would you like to live in a railroad station". Boston Globe. July 15, 1933. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  11. ↑ Northern New England Travel Guide. Boston and Maine Railroad. April 28, 1946. pp. 14–15 – via Wikimedia Commons.
  12. ↑ Passenger Train Schedules, Boston and Maine Railroad, April 27, 1952, pp. 14, 15 – via Wikimedia Commons
  13. ↑ "Drastic Service Cuts Approved on Five B.& M. Divisions". Daily Boston Globe. April 19, 1958. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  14. ↑ Concetta Coreth, Lake (April 2011). Chelsea Under Fire (thesis) (Thesis). Boston College Department of History. p. 52. hdl:2345/1998.
  15. 1 2 Fay, Spofford & Thorndike (June 2011). "CSX ROW Multi-Use Path Feasibility/Conceptual Design Study" (PDF). City of Chelsea, MA. p. 43. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 20, 2016.
  16. ↑ New York Central Lines, LLC; CSX Transportation, Inc. (March 8, 2002). "Docket No. AB-565 (Sub-No. 7X)" (PDF). Surface Transportation Board. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 2, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Urban Ring Phase 2 FACT SHEET" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011.
  18. ↑ "The Urban Ring Phase 2: Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report/Statement" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. November 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 14, 2017.
  19. ↑ Mullan, Jeffery B. (January 22, 2010). "Re: Urban Ring Phase 2, EOEEA #12565" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 23, 2020.
  20. ↑ Quackenbush, Karl H. (November 1, 2012). "Work Program for: MBTA Silver Line to Chelsea: Alternatives Analysis, Phase 2" (PDF). Central Transportation Planning Staff.
  21. ↑ Peterson, Scott. "Analysis of Silver Line Service to Airport Station and Chelsea" (PDF). Central Transportation Planning Staff. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 20, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Silver Line Gateway Alternatives Analysis" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. June 19, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 26, 2015.
  23. ↑ Hamwey, Scott (September 18, 2013). "Silver Line Gateway Alternatives Analysis: Public Meeting – September 18, 2013" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 20, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Governor Patrick Announces MBTA Silver Line Expansion" (Press release). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. October 30, 2013. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  25. ↑ Silver Line Gateway Service to Chelsea, East Boston & the Blue Line: Single Environmental Impact Report (Single EIR): EEA # 15124 (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. March 31, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 23, 2014.
  26. ↑ "MBTA Silver Line to Chelsea Approved" (Press release). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. September 17, 2014. Archived from the original on March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Silver Line Gateway" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. June 5, 2017. p. 3.
  28. ↑ "Silver Line Gateway Project Overview". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. March 2018. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018.
  29. ↑ Vaccaro, Adam (June 6, 2017). "Silver Line service to Chelsea to begin next spring". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017.
  30. ↑ "Silver Line 3 Update" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. March 12, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Notice to Bidders" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. February 8, 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 13, 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  32. ↑ "MBTA Board Awards Contract for New Commuter Rail Station in Chelsea" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. April 29, 2019.
  33. ↑ "Baker-Polito Administration Celebrates Beginning of Chelsea Commuter Rail Construction" (Press release). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. September 16, 2019. Archived from the original on September 24, 2019. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  34. ↑ "Platform Work Continues at Chelsea Commuter Rail Station" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. May 4, 2020.
  35. ↑ "Train Platform Work Progressing at Chelsea Commuter Rail Station" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. August 13, 2020.
  36. ↑ "Report from the General Manager" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. March 29, 2021. p. 15.
  37. ↑ "New Chelsea Commuter Rail Station Opens November 15" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. November 1, 2021.
  38. ↑ "MBTA Celebrates Completion of Chelsea Commuter Rail Station" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. December 15, 2021.
  39. ↑ Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
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