Waban station is a surface-level light rail station on the

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

Green Line D branch The Green Line D branch (also referred to as the Highland branch or Riverside Line) is a light rail line in Newton, Brookline, and Boston, Massachusetts, operating as part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line. ...

, located just south of Beacon Street at Waban Square in the

Waban Waban (16041685) was a Native American of the Nipmuc group and was thought to be the first Native American convert to Christianity in Massachusetts. Life Waban was born about 1604 at Musketaquid, near the present town of Concord. While there i ...

section of

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

. 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 Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

History

Waban formerly boasted an H.H. Richardson-designed train station, like those still standing in Newton Highlands and

Newton Centre Newton Centre is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The main commercial center of Newton Centre is a triangular area surrounding the intersections of Beacon Street, Centre St ...

. The original station was completed in August 1886 as part of the

Boston and Albany Railroad The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Pa ...

Highland branch The Highland branch, also known as the Newton Highlands branch, was a suburban railway line in Boston, Massachusetts. It was opened by the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1886 to serve the growing community of Newton, Massachusetts. The line was ...

and was one of the last stations designed by Richardson before his death in April 1886. 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. A preliminary design contract for accessibility modifications at the four stations was issued in February 2021. Design reached 75% in June 2022 and was completed late that year. Construction was expected to be advertised in February 2023 and begin midyear.

References

External links

MBTA - Waban

Beacon Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
Green Line (MBTA) stations Railway stations in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Former Boston and Albany Railroad stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1959 {{Massachusetts-railstation-stub