Suffolk Downs (MBTA station)

SUFFOLK DOWNS
Suffolk Downs station in February 2012
Location	1230 Bennington Street at Walley Street East Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°23′25″N 70°59′49″W / 42.3904°N 70.9970°W / 42.3904; -70.9970Coordinates: 42°23′25″N 70°59′49″W / 42.3904°N 70.9970°W / 42.3904; -70.9970
Line(s)	Blue Line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Parking	110 spaces ($5.00 fee) 4 accessible spaces
Bicycle facilities	12 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	c. 1905 (BRB&L - Belle Isle) 1935 (BRB&L - Suffolk Downs) April 21, 1952 (rapid transit)[1]
Closed	c. 1925 (BRB&L - Belle Isle) January 27, 1940 (BRB&L - Suffolk Downs)[2] February 14, 1976 (outbound platform)[1]
Rebuilt	January 3, 1984 June 24, 1995[1]
Previous names	Belle Isle (c. 1905 - c. 1925)
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	1,125 (weekday average boardings)[3]
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Orient Heights toward Bowdoin Blue Line Beachmont toward Wonderland

Suffolk Downs is a rapid transit station on the MBTA Blue Line located off Bennington Street on the east side of Orient Heights in East Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the Orient Heights neighborhood as well as its namesake, the now-defunct Suffolk Downs racetrack.

Originally a Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad station called Belle Isle and Suffolk Downs from the early 1900s to 1940, it reopened in 1952 as a rapid transit station on the Revere Extension of the East Boston Tunnel line (now the Blue Line).

With just 1125 daily boardings in 2013, Suffolk Downs is the least-used rapid transit station on the MBTA system.^[3] It is fully handicapped accessible.

History

The narrow gauge Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad (BRB&L) opened from East Boston to Lynn through Breed's Hill (not yet part of East Boston) on July 29, 1875; there was initially no station at the modern site.^[4] A stop named Belle Isle opened at Waldemar Avenue around 1905.^[5][6][7] Just 2,000 feet (610 m) from Orient Heights station, it closed around 1925 and suffered a number of fires in 1925 and 1926 caused by sparks from locomotives.^{[8][9][10][11]}

By 1928 the line was electrified, with pre-pay stations - more a rapid transit line than a conventional railroad.^[11] The station was reopened and renamed Suffolk Downs when the horse-racing track opened in 1935.^[12] Due to the Great Depression, the BRB&L shut down on January 27, 1940.^[2]

Rapid transit

An outbound train at Suffolk Downs in 1967

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.^[13] 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.^[14][15]

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.^[13] The first part of the Revere Extension opened to Orient Heights on January 5, 1952 and to Suffolk Downs on April 21, 1952; the second phase (cut short due to limited funds) opened to Wonderland on January 19, 1954.^[1][13]

Renovations

Construction of the new station in 1983

The 1952 station lost its outbound platform to fire on February 14, 1976, leaving only the inbound platform open, which hurt attendance at races.^[1] The station was rebuilt in 1983 after the project received a $1.9 million grant from the Urban Mass Transportation Administration; the new handicapped accessible station fully opened on January 3, 1984.^[1][16]

The station was closed for one year starting on June 25, 1994 as Suffolk Downs, Beachmont, Revere Beach, and Wonderland stations were rebuilt as part of the Blue Line Modernization Program. Blue Line service temporarily ended at Orient Heights and buses served the closed outer stations during the $467 million improvement project.^[1][17] Because Suffolk Downs station had been completely rebuilt just a decade before, it needed just $3 million worth of work, compared to $9 million each at Revere Beach and Wonderland and $27 million for a completely new station at Beachmont. The stations reopened on June 24, 1995.^[1][18]

Unusually for an MBTA rapid transit station, Suffolk Downs has no MBTA Bus connections.^[19] However, during the 2013 closure of Orient Heights, Suffolk Downs was used as the terminus of replacement shuttle bus service.^[1]

Platform layout

The inbound platform at Suffolk Downs in 2011

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Suffolk Downs (MBTA station).

• MBTA - Suffolk Downs
• Bennington Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Walley Street entrance from Google Maps Street View

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Subway lines (List of stations)	Heavy rail      Blue      Orange      Red Light rail      Green "B" Branch "C" Branch "D" Branch "E" Branch      Ashmont–Mattapan Former lines      Arborway Line      Atlantic Avenue Elevated      Causeway Street Elevated      Charlestown Elevated      Green Line "A" Branch      Washington Street Elevated
Commuter Rail lines (List of stations)	North Station lines Fitchburg Haverhill (Wildcat Branch) Lowell Newburyport/Rockport South Station lines Fairmount Framingham/Worcester Franklin Greenbush Needham Old Colony (Kingston/Plymouth Middleborough/Lakeville      CapeFLYER) Providence/Stoughton Former lines Central Mass Branch Dedham Branch Lexington Branch Millis Branch Woburn Branch
Bus routes (List of routes)	Silver Line Crosstown routes Key routes Trackless trolleys Routes East Boston, Chelsea, Revere Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield South Boston
Other services	Boat The Ride
Component parts of system lines	Boylston Street Subway      Haymarket North Extension      Lechmere Viaduct      Tremont Street Subway
Capital projects	Under construction      Blue Hill Avenue station      Boston Landing station           Forest Hills modifications      Green Line Extension      Haverhill Line upgrades           Silver Line Gateway / Chelsea station      South Coast Rail In planning / proposed      Buzzards Bay extension      Foxboro service      Hynes Convention Center renovation      Kingston R.I. extension      Nashua extension      Route 16 extension      Wollaston renovation Formerly proposed      Arborway Line restoration      Indigo Line (Fairmount Grand Junction Track 61)      Lexington extension      Lynn extension      North–South Rail Link      Plaistow extension      Reading extension           Red Line—Blue Line Connector Urban Ring Project
History	Predecessor companies Boston Elevated Railway Streetcar lines Boston and Maine Railroad Conrail New York Central Railroad New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Penn Central Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Middlesex and Boston Street Railway Newton and Boston Street Railway Accidents and incidents      1990 Back Bay      2008 Waban/Woodland
Other	Accessibility Arts on the Line Bicycling CharlieCard Grand Junction Railroad "Charlie on the M.T.A." Nomenclature Police                Winter Street Concourse Yards and maintenance facilities