Riverside station is a
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 ...
(MBTA)
Green Line light rail
Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
station located in the
Auburndale village of
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...
. It is the western terminal of the
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 Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Newton, and Somerville, Massachusetts, operating as part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authorit ...
service. The station is located near the interchange of
Interstate 95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...
(
Route 128) and the
Massachusetts Turnpike
The Massachusetts Turnpike (colloquially the "Mass Pike" or "the Pike") is a controlled-access toll road that runs concurrently with Interstate 90 (I-90) in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It the longest Interstate Highway in Massachu ...
(I-90) and serves as a regional
park and ride
A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...
station. West of the station is Riverside Yard, the main maintenance facility and largest storage yard for the Green Line. The station is fully
accessible.
History
The
Boston and Worcester Railroad opened through Newton in 1834. A station at Riverside, named for its location just east of the railroad's bridge over the
Charles River
The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...
, opened in the 1850s.
The railroad merged into 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 mainline is currently used by CSX for freight a ...
(B&A) in 1867. In 1886, the B&A completed its
Highland branch, which rejoined the mainline at Riverside. "Newton Circuit" service operated via the mainline and the branch.
Highland branch service ended in 1958 for conversion to
a streetcar line. The
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a New York state public benefit corporations, public benefit corporation in New York (state), New York State responsible for public transportation in the New York metropolitan area, New York Ci ...
built a new Riverside station with a large commuter parking lot and brick station building in a former gravel pit south of the existing station. Streetcar service began on July 4, 1959. Limited commuter rail service continued to the mainline station until October 28, 1977.
In 1995, new elevated platforms were built at the north end of the yard and the 1959-built station used as a bus terminal. The 1995-built platforms were raised slightly above track level; these made the station
accessible when low-floor light rail vehicles arrived in 2002. Riverside is the only surface-level Green Line station with a prepayment (
fare control
In rail transport, the paid area is a dedicated "inner" zone in a railway station or metro station, accessible via turnstiles or other barriers, to get into which, visitors or passengers require a valid ticket, checked smartcard or a pass. A s ...
led) platform area. This allows passengers to board at all doors. Fare control began during morning peak hours only when the current platforms opened in 1995, and full-time in 2006 when the
CharlieCard fare card system was introduced.
A track connection still exists with the main line; catenary is installed up to the junction for offloading vehicles delivered by the railroad onto the light rail network. On October 20, 1996, severe flooding overflowed the banks of the
Muddy River and flooded the Green Line subway from the western portals to . From October 23 to 25, a commuter rail shuttle was run from a temporary platform at Riverside to South Station using the old track connection.
services to and from Boston, including
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of Intercity bus service, intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as interci ...
,
Peter Pan Bus Lines,
Go Buses, and
Megabus, offer limited service to Riverside. This was temporarily suspended in early 2010, but was reinstated that October.
In 2014, the state announced plans Riverside would be the terminus of a proposed
DMU Indigo Line to
South Station
South Station, officially The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station, is the largest railroad station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston and New England's second-largest transportation center after Logan I ...
, via the former track connection, but the plans were cancelled in 2015.
A private group plans to restore the pedestrian underpass at the former mainline station as part of a trail network in the area. The state awarded $100,000 in design funding in 2019. Riverside Yard will be modified in the late 2020s to support new Type 10 LRVs.
Development
The MBTA began planning for
transit-oriented development
In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of Real estate development, urban development that maximizes the amount of Residential area, residential, business and leisure space within Pedestrian, walking distance of public t ...
at Riverside by the 1980s. In October 1997, Riverside was identified as a possible site for a parking garage, but this was not pursued. On February 12, 2009, the MBTA authorized an 85-year lease of a portion of the Riverside parking lots for a mixed-use development. As originally planned, the development was to contain of office space, of retail space, and 190 residential units. In late 2019, the city rezoned the site to allow for a larger development.
[
By 2020, plans called for of office space, of retail space, 582 residential units, a 150-room hotel, and a 1,990-space parking garage. The station was to be modified with two elevators, new ramps, and a new canopy structure. A parcel at the southwest end of the yard, originally to be used for the development, would be retained by the MBTA for yard expansion beginning around 2024.]
References
External links
MBTA - Riverside
{{MBTA Subway Stations
Green Line (MBTA) stations
Railway stations in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Former Boston and Albany Railroad stations
Bus stations in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1959
Buildings and structures in Newton, Massachusetts