Chelsea station (MBTA)

The Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) had its East Everett station at 2nd Street, serving residential areas to the southeast.[1] The station was built by property owners and opened in 1880.[2] Streetcars cut heavily into the profitability of local commuter rail service; the B&M closed the station building in 1932, though some trains continued to stop.[3][4] The building was demolished around 1933.[5] By 1946, the station was served by only one weekday-only round trip.[6] By the time the remaining local stops on the line south of Lynn were closed in 1958, East Everett was no longer being served.[7][8] The residential neighborhood around 2nd Street, already planned for urban renewal, was destroyed by the Great Chelsea fire of 1973; it was replaced by industry and the Mystic Mall.[9]

The Silver Line station under construction in 2017

Mystic Mall was a proposed stop on the Urban Ring Project.[10] 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. Under draft plans released in 2008, buses would have left the dedicated busway (constructed next to existing commuter rail tracks) to access new surface-level BRT platforms on Everett Street and Spruce Street.[11] Although the full project was shelved in 2010 due to the MBTA's financial difficulties, some corridor routes are receiving more limited work.[12]

In March 2013, the MBTA began studying an extension of the Silver Line to Chelsea via a newly constructed bypass road in East Boston. Three alternatives were discussed for the Chelsea section. One would run up the abandoned section of the Grand Junction Railroad right-of-way from Eastern Avenue to Chelsea station with stops at Eastern Avenue, Highland/Box District, Chelsea station, and Mystic Mall. The second alignment would follow the Grand Junction to just short of Bellingham Square, then diverge onto surface roads to Bellingham Square. The third alignment would run entirely on surface streets, serving two stops on Central Avenue and four stops along a loop serving the existing Chelsea station and the MGH Chelsea healthcare center.[13] In September 2013, the MBTA indicated that it would pursue the first alternative despite potential issues with bridge clearances and rebuilding Chelsea station.[14]

On October 30, 2013, MassDOT announced $82.5 million in state funding for a modified version of the first alternative to be constructed. A new $20 million Chelsea commuter rail station would be constructed at the Mystic Mall busway terminus to replace the existing station. This new station would make the commuter rail station fully accessible, with longer platforms so that trains would not block grade crossings while stopped. The Silver Line would have a new Bellingham Square stop at the old commuter rail station location. Service was expected to begin in late 2015.[15]

A construction contract was approved in September 2014, and construction began in March 2015.[16][12][17] By June 2017, opening had been pushed back to April 2018.[18] Silver Line service on the SL3 branch began on April 21, 2018.[19]

Commuter Rail station construction in October 2020

The MBTA opened bidding for the contract to construct the new commuter rail station (which also includes installation of several nearby traffic signals and demolition of the existing station) in February 2019, with an expected cost of $26.7 million.[20] A $32.4 million contract was awarded in April 2019, with completion then expected in late 2021.[21] Construction of the project (which has a total cost of $37.7 million) began in August 2019.[22] The supports for the outbound platform were completed by April 2020, and the platforms were installed that August.[23][24] As of January 2021, the new station is expected to open in September 2021.[25]