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Airport station is a
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
station in
Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. It serves the
MBTA 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 ...
Blue Line and the SL3 branch of the Silver Line. It is located in
East Boston East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, which was annexed by the city of Boston in 1836. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Massachusetts, Winthrop, Revere, Mas ...
under the interchange between
Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...
and
Massachusetts Route 1A Route 1A is a north–south state highway in Massachusetts, United States. It is an alternate route to U.S. 1 with three signed sections and two unsigned sections where the highway is concurrent with its parent. Due to the reconfiguration o ...
. The station provides one of two
mass transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...
connections to the nearby
Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport — also known as Boston Logan International Airport — is an international airport located mostly in East Boston and partially in Winthrop, Massachusetts, United States. Covering , it has ...
, as well as serving local residents in East Boston. Shuttle buses connect the station with the airport terminals and other facilities. At Airport, Blue Line trains switch between the
third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a track (r ...
power used in the East Boston Tunnel to
overhead wires An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union of Railways for the tec ...
used on the surface line to Revere. The original brick station built in 1952 was replaced by a modern station with steel and glass canopies in 2004.


Station layout

Airport station is located in
East Boston East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, which was annexed by the city of Boston in 1836. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Massachusetts, Winthrop, Revere, Mas ...
at the western edge of
Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport — also known as Boston Logan International Airport — is an international airport located mostly in East Boston and partially in Winthrop, Massachusetts, United States. Covering , it has ...
within the interchange of
Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...
and
Massachusetts Route 1A Route 1A is a north–south state highway in Massachusetts, United States. It is an alternate route to U.S. 1 with three signed sections and two unsigned sections where the highway is concurrent with its parent. Due to the reconfiguration o ...
. It has two
side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms, ...
s serving the two tracks of the Blue Line, which runs approximately northeast–southwest at street level through the station. A trainshed covers the tracks; it is intersected by a taller, north–south volume that contains the fare lobby and two footbridges (one outside the paid area) over the tracks. The west entrance to the station serves residential portions of East Boston via Bremen Street Park, with a footbridge over the northbound lanes of Route 1A. The east entrance primarily serves a busway off Transportation Way; a footpath also connects to residential areas to the south, East Boston Memorial Park, and the East Boston Greenway.
Massport Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) is the port authority for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It owns and operates three airports, Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field, and Worcester Regional Airport, and public terminals in the P ...
operates the Massport Shuttle, a free bus service between Airport station, the four airport terminals, the rental car center (RCC), offices and cargo terminals on the south side of the airport, and the
MBTA boat The MBTA ferry system is a public boat service providing water transportation in Boston Harbor. It is operated by Hornblower Cruises (branded as City Cruises) under contract to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). In , the sy ...
(water ferry) terminal. Airport station is served by routes . The busway is also used by MBTA Silver Line route and
MBTA bus The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates List of MBTA bus routes, 152 bus routes in the Greater Boston area. The MBTA has a policy objective to provide transit service within walking distance (defined as ) for all residents ...
routes and .


History


Original station

The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) opened the first phase of the Revere Extension on January 5, 1952, with new stations at Airport, Wood Island, and
Orient Heights Orient Heights is a historic section of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is commonly considered part of East Boston; it is Boston's northernmost and northeasternmost neighborhood. The neighborhood sits on a hill, which measures 152 f ...
. This phase connected the East Boston Tunnel at
Maverick Maverick or Maveric may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Bureau T-32 M ...
to the
Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn The Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad was a narrow-gauge passenger-carrying shortline railroad between East Boston, Massachusetts, East Boston and Lynn, Massachusetts, Lynn, Massachusetts, from 1875 to 1940. Part of the railroad's Right-of ...
narrow gauge right of way between Wood Island and
Orient Heights Orient Heights is a historic section of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is commonly considered part of East Boston; it is Boston's northernmost and northeasternmost neighborhood. The neighborhood sits on a hill, which measures 152 f ...
. For a short distance that includes Airport station, this connecting line follows a right of way, now the East Boston Greenway, that was once used by the
Grand Junction Railroad The Grand Junction Railroad was an long railroad in the Boston, Massachusetts, area, connecting the railroads heading west and north from Boston. The western portion between Beacon Park Yard in Boston and the Inner Belt District in Somervill ...
and the
Eastern Railroad The Eastern Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Maine. Throughout its history, it competed with the Boston and Maine Railroad for service between the two cities, until the Boston & Maine put an end to the competi ...
. Airport was the first American urban transit connection to a commercial airport. The station was modernized in 1967–68 as part of a $9 million systemwide station improvement program.


Reconstruction

In April 2000, 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 ...
began construction on a $23 million project to replace the 1952-built station. The new station, located approximately 500 feet east of the old station due to
Big Dig The Big Dig was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the then elevated Central Artery of Interstate 93 that cut across Boston into the O'Neill Tunnel and built the Ted Williams Tunnel to extend Massachusetts Turnpike, Interstate 90 to Logan I ...
relocation of highway ramps, opened June 3, 2004. It is fully accessible, with the platforms connected by a pedestrian bridge with elevators, and has longer platforms than the previous station in order to accommodate 6-car trains (which began operation in 2008). The station includes several features to serve airport travelers, including luggage slides adjacent to the faregates, wider escalators and elevators, and monitors showing flight statuses. In 2001, the MBTA began a $2.3 million federally-funded program to install ten new works and restore existing pieces. The centerpiece of the program was ''Totems of Light'', a pair of stained glass windows at the rebuilt Airport station. Designed by Linda Lichtman, the work cost $90,000.


Silver Line

Until 2005, the station was the primary rapid transit link between Boston to the airport. As part of
Big Dig The Big Dig was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the then elevated Central Artery of Interstate 93 that cut across Boston into the O'Neill Tunnel and built the Ted Williams Tunnel to extend Massachusetts Turnpike, Interstate 90 to Logan I ...
environmental mitigation, the state was mandated to run Silver Line service to the airport terminals. Full-time service from South Station began on June 1, 2005. This SL1 service has replaced the transfer at Airport station for many travelers, although the station still sees substantial airport traffic. Airport station was a proposed stop on the Urban Ring Project. The Urban Ring was to be a circumferential bus rapid transit (BRT) line designed to connect the current radial MBTA rail lines, to reduce overcrowding in the downtown stations, but it was canceled in 2010. Under draft plans released in 2008, a new surface-level BRT platform was to be built on the north side of the existing busway. Although the full project was shelved due to the MBTA's financial difficulties, some corridor routes received more limited work, including a branch of the Silver Line to Chelsea. The new branch separates from the SL1 route before Logan Airport; it stops at Airport station at the previously proposed spot, then runs over a haul road and a new busway constructed on a former section of the
Grand Junction Railroad The Grand Junction Railroad was an long railroad in the Boston, Massachusetts, area, connecting the railroads heading west and north from Boston. The western portion between Beacon Park Yard in Boston and the Inner Belt District in Somervill ...
. The SL3 service began on April 21, 2018.


Plans

In October 2015, Massport released plans for a major expansion of Terminal E which would include a pedestrian bridge directly to the station. With half a mile between the terminal and the station, the moving walkways for the connection would be among the longest in the world. In April 2018, Massport announced a $15 million study of a possible automated
people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small-scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks ...
system to connect the Airport Station with the four terminals, rental car center, and economy parking. It would replace the shuttle busses and serve instead of the proposed walkway. Implementation was estimated to cost $1 billion and take ten years.Logan Airport monorail under consideration, but sit tight: It could take 10 years and $1 billion to build
Tom Acitelli, Boston Curbed, Apr 25, 2018


References


External links


MBTA – AirportStation on Google Maps Street View
{{MBTA Subway Stations Blue Line (MBTA) stations Silver Line (MBTA) stations Railway stations in Boston Airport railway stations in the United States Railway stations in the United States opened in 1952 East Boston Railway stations with vitreous enamel panels Logan International Airport Bus stations in Boston