Malden Center station

Malden Center is an intermodal transit station in Malden, Massachusetts. Located on an elevated grade above Pleasant Street in downtown Malden, it serves the MBTA's rapid transit Orange Line and the MBTA Commuter Rail Haverhill Line, as well as 13 MBTA bus routes. The current station opened on December 27, 1975, replacing an older brick station which has since been repurposed as a restaurant.

Malden Center
Malden Center station viewed from the Commercial Street busway on the east side of the station
LocationCommercial Street at Pleasant Street
Malden, Massachusetts
Coordinates42.426715°N 71.074349°W / 42.426715; -71.074349
Line(s)Haymarket North Extension
Western Route
Platforms1 side platform (Haverhill Line)
1 island platform (Orange Line)
Tracks1 (Haverhill Line)
2 (Orange Line)
Connections MBTA bus: 97, 99, 101, 104, 105, 106, 108, 131, 132, 136, 137, 411, 430
Construction
Parking188 spaces ($6.00 fee)
4 accessible spaces
Bicycle facilities104 spaces in "Pedal and Park" bicycle cage
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Fare zone1A
History
OpenedDecember 27, 1975 (Orange Line)[1]
RebuiltMay 1, 1977 (Haverhill Line)[1]
Passengers
2018147 daily boardings[2] (Haverhill Line)
FY201911,623 daily boardings[3] (Orange Line)
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
North Station
Terminus
 Haverhill Line Wyoming Hill
toward Haverhill
Wellington
toward Forest Hills
 Orange Line Oak Grove
Terminus

Station layout
Orange Line (left) and Haverhill Line platforms

Malden Center station is located on an embankment on the west side of downtown Malden. The Orange Line is on the west side of the station, with two tracks and an island platform. The Western Route, used by the Haverhill Line, has one track and a single side platform. The fare lobby is under the center of the platforms, with entrances from both sides of the tracks. A two-lane busway is located on the east side of the station, with a one-lane busway on the west side.

P
Platform level		 Southbound ←      Orange Line toward Forest Hills (Wellington)
Island platform
Northbound →      Orange Line toward Oak Grove (Terminus) →
Commuter ←      Haverhill Line toward North Station (Terminus)
←      Haverhill Line toward Haverhill (Wyoming Hill) →
Side platform
G Street level Exit/entrance, station house, Orange Line fare control, buses, parking

History
Malden station in 1906
The former station repurposed as a restaurant

The Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) opened through Malden in July 1845.[4] The first station was a two-story wooden depot on the east side of the tracks at Pleasant Street; it was replaced by a smaller station on the west side in 1871.[5][6] In May 1891, the B&M began construction of a new station as part of a grade crossing elimination project.[7] The new station opened in 1892.[6]

A new Malden station opened on December 27, 1975, as part of the MBTA's Haymarket North Extension of the Orange Line. Expansion to Malden had been a long-time goal of the Boston Elevated Railway, and the Everett extension of the Charlestown Elevated was originally planned to go past Everett and into Malden and Reading via Main Street. However, residents of Malden were opposed to the elevated railroad structure that was planned, and prevented the extension. The 1975 extension was built along the existing Haverhill Line embankment and was considered less disruptive than a separate, fully elevated railroad would have been.

The former station closed simultaneously with the opening of the Orange Line station; the station building is now a restaurant. A high-level platform - the first on the MBTA system - was installed along the Reading Line track, but Reading Line trains did not stop. The platform opened for regular service on May 1, 1977.[1] It was again closed on September 1, 1979 due to low usage. On January 20, 1984, a fire destroyed the approach trestle to the Charles River Bridge at North Station; Haverhill Line trains were run to Oak Grove. North Station reopened on April 20, 1985; the commuter platform at Oak Grove closed but the platform at Malden was reopened.[1] The switch may have been made due to a request by John A. Brennan Jr., who was then constructing a large development near Malden Center station.[8]

The station was built with provisions for a future elevator.[9] In 1989, the MBTA studied a possible accessible footbridge at the station, which would have cost $2.8 million and opened in 1991.[10] The MBTA began a renovation of the station, then estimated to cost $6 million, in 2003.[11] It was originally to be completed in 2003, but was substantially delayed by changes to building codes.[12] Completed in 2005, the ultimately-$10 million project added a second exit stairwell and two elevators, making the station accessible.[13][14] In 2002, as part of its public art program, the MBTA added panels with artworks by local schoolchildren at Sullivan Square and Malden Center. The station also has two benches in the lobby painted by local arts students.[15][16]

Because of its Orange Line connection, Malden Center can serve as a temporary inbound terminus for the Haverhill Line when commuter rail service is disrupted between Malden and Boston's North Station. It served this role in 2016 during reconstruction work on the Woods Memorial Bridge, which carries the Revere Beach Parkway over the rail lines and the Malden River.[17] Oak Grove station is usually used during weekday disruptions, as it is closer to the double-track section of the line in Melrose.[1]

Bus connections
A route 97 bus in the east busway in 2017

Malden Center is a major bus transfer station, with 13 routes serving the station via its two busways.

  • 97: Malden Center station–Wellington station
  • 99: Woodland Road–Wellington station
  • 101: Malden Center station–Sullivan Square station via Winter Hill
  • 104: Malden Center station–Sullivan Square station via Ferry Street
  • 105: Malden Center station–Sullivan Square station via Newland Street Housing
  • 106: Lebanon Loop–Wellington station
  • 108: Linden Square–Wellington station
  • 131: Melrose Highlands–Oak Grove or Malden Center station
  • 132: Redstone Shopping Center–Malden Center station
  • 136: Reading Depot–Malden Center station via Lowell Street
  • 137: Reading Depot–Malden Center station via North Avenue
  • 411: Kennedy Drive or Jack Satter House–Malden Center station
  • 430: Saugus Center–Malden Center station

References
  1. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit.
  2. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  3. "A Guide to Ridership Data". MassDOT/MBTA Office of Performance Management and Innovation. June 22, 2020. p. 6.
  4. Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 ed.). Branch Line Press. p. 292. ISBN 9780942147124.
  5. "Malden". County Atlas of Middlesex Massachusetts. F.W. Beers & Co. pp. 111–112 – via Ward Maps.
  6. Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. p. 187. ISBN 9780942147087.
  7. "Station begins to loom up". Boston Daily Globe. May 7, 1891. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Mooney, Brian C. (October 23, 1988). "Malden senator has golden touch". Boston Globe. p. 1, 52 – via Newspapers.com. (first page)
  9. Oak Grove Station, Malden. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. March 1977. At Malden Center Station provisions were made during construction for the installation of an elevator in the future.
  10. Ackerman, Jerry (October 23, 1989). "Breakaway poles to be tried this week". The Boston Globe. p. 18 Metro – via Newspapers.com. Separately, the MBTA hired Fay, Spofford & Thorndike Inc. of Lexington for a maximum of $146,000 to design a wheelchair-access pedestrian overpass at the Malden commuter-rail station. The authority estimates the overpass will cost $2.8 million and set a 1991 completion date.
  11. Santoro, Phil (August 11, 2002). "T station to get $6m face lift". Boston Globe. p. 241 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Santoro, Phil (January 13, 2005). "Like travelers, projects not moving". Boston Globe. p. 115 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. Tran Systems and Planners Collaborative (August 24, 2007). "Evaluation of MBTA Paratransit and Accessible Fixed Route Transit Services: Final Report" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  14. "Accessibility Projects at the MBTA" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. March 2005.
  15. Durso, Holly Bellocchio (June 2011). Subway Spaces as Public Places: Politics and Perceptions of Boston's T (MCP). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. p. 62.
  16. "On the Orange Line" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. pp. 6, 7.
  17. "Commuter Rail Service Alerts: Haverhill Line". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. May 11, 2016. Archived from the original on May 19, 2016.
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