Beachmont station

Beachmont is an elevated rapid transit station in Revere, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA Blue Line, and is located above Winthrop Avenue in the Beachmont neighborhood. Beachmont station is fully accessible, with elevators from the lobby to the platforms.

Beachmont
An outbound train at Beachmont station in 2018
Location630 Winthrop Avenue at 1 Bennington Street
Revere, Massachusetts
Coordinates42.3975°N 70.9922°W / 42.3975; -70.9922
Line(s)Revere Extension
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Connections MBTA bus: 119
Construction
Parking430 spaces ($5.00 fee)
Bicycle facilities6 spaces
Disabled accessYes
History
OpenedJanuary 19, 1954 (Blue Line)[1]
ClosedJanuary 27, 1940 (BRB&L)[2]
RebuiltJune 24, 1995[1]
Passengers
FY20193,139 boardings (weekday average)[3]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Suffolk Downs
toward Bowdoin
 Blue Line Revere Beach
toward Wonderland

History

BRB&L
Beachmont station on an early postcard

The narrow gauge Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad (BRB&L) opened from East Boston to Lynn on July 29, 1875; no station was originally present at Winthrop Avenue.[4] Beachmont station opened later at the Winthrop Avenue grade crossing, with a station building located southeast of the crossing. Ocean Pier station at Dolphin Avenue was open for several years in the 1880s, likely to compete with a competitor - the Eastern Railroad-backed Boston, Winthrop and Shore Railroad - which operated in 1884 and 1885.[2][5][6]

By 1928 the line was electrified, with pre-pay stations - more a rapid transit line than a conventional railroad.[7] However, due to the Great Depression, the BRB&L shut down on January 27, 1940.[2]

Rapid transit

In 1941, the Boston Elevated Railway bought the BRB&L right of way from Day Square to Revere Beach for use as a high-speed trolley line similar to the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line; these plans were delayed by the onset of World War II.[8] However, the 1926 Report on Improved Transportation Facilities and 1945–47 Coolidge Commission Report recommended that the East Boston Tunnel line, which had been converted to rapid transit from streetcars in 1924, be extended to Lynn via the BBRB&L route rather than using it for a trolley line.[9][10]

In 1947, the newly formed Metropolitan Transit Authority (M.T.A.) decided to build to Lynn as a rapid transit line, and construction began in October 1948.[8] The first part of the Revere Extension opened to Orient Heights in January 1952 and Suffolk Downs in April 1952; the second phase (cut short due to limited funds) opened to Wonderland on January 19, 1954 with intermediate stations at Beachmont and Revere Beach.[8][1] Unlike its predecessor, this Beachmont station was elevated to eliminate the grade crossing of Winthrop Avenue.

Renovations
Aerial view of the 1995-built Beachmont station

The station was closed for approximately one year starting on June 25, 1994, as the station was rebuilt along with the Suffolk Downs, Revere Beach and Wonderland stations as part of the Blue Line Modernization Program. Blue Line service temporarily ended at Orient Heights and buses served the closed stations during the project.[1][11] Beachmont station was completely rebuilt at a cost of $27 million; it reopened along with the other stations on June 24, 1995.[12]

The station was closed while additional platform repair work was performed from September 8 through November 25, 2008.[1][13] On June 1-2, 2019, the 1995-added radio tower was demolished.[14][15]

References
  1. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit.
  2. Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. pp. 268–272. ISBN 0942147022.
  3. "A Guide to Ridership Data". MassDOT/MBTA Office of Performance Management and Innovation. June 22, 2020. p. 8.
  4. Bradlee, Francis Boardman Crowninshield (1921). The Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Narrow Gauge Railroad. Essex Institute. pp. 4–5 – via Google Books.
  5. Stanley, Robert C. (1980). Narrow Gauge: The Story of the Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn Railroad. Boston Street Railway Association.
  6. "Part of the Town of Revere". Atlas of the City of Chelsea and the Towns of Revere and Winthrop. G.W. Bromley and Co. 1886 – via WardMaps.
  7. ""Narrow Gage" Electrified for Economy". Electric Railway Journal. 72 (23): 991–998. 8 December 1928. Retrieved 24 December 2015 – via Internet Archive.
  8. Cheney, Frank (2003). Boston's Blue Line. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 8, 83. ISBN 9780738535760.
  9. Central Transportation Planning Staff (15 November 1993). "The Transportation Plan for the Boston Region - Volume 2". National Transportation Library. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  10. Boston Elevated Railway and Boston Department of Public Utilities (1945), Boston Rapid Transit System & Proposed Extensions 1945 - Metropolitan Transit Recess Commission Air View
  11. Blake, Andrew (March 20, 1994). "MBTA to begin $467 million Blue Line project". Boston Globe – via Newspapers.com. (second page)
  12. Blake, Andrew (June 18, 1995). "Blue Line stations set to reopen after $467m upgrade". Boston Globe – via Newspapers.com. (second page)
  13. "Blue Line Rehab Project To Begin" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. June 18, 2008.
  14. "Alerts: Subway". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. May 23, 2019. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019.
  15. "Beachmont Improvements". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2019. Archived from the original on September 25, 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.