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Milton station (MBTA)

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Coordinates: 42°16′13″N 71°04′02″W / 42.27035°N 71.06727°W / 42.27035; -71.06727
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Milton
An outbound streetcar at Milton station in 2021
General information
Location1 Adams Street at 1 Eliot Street
Milton, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°16′13″N 71°04′02″W / 42.27035°N 71.06727°W / 42.27035; -71.06727
Line(s)Milton Branch, Shawmut Branch
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
ConnectionsBus transport MBTA bus: 217
Construction
Parking41 spaces ($4.00 fee)
Bicycle facilities8 spaces
AccessibleYes
History
Opened1848 (Old Colony)
August 26, 1929 (Boston Elevated)
Rebuilt1926–1929
June 24, 2006–December 22, 2007
Previous namesMilton Mills (1848–1871)
Milton Lower Mills (1871–1885)
Passengers
2023196 daily boardings[1]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Central Avenue
toward Mattapan
 Mattapan Line Butler
toward Ashmont
Former services
Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station
Central Avenue
toward Mattapan
 Boston–​Mattapan Cedar Grove
until 1926
toward Boston
Granite Bridge
1926–1929
toward Boston
Location
Map

Milton station is a light rail station in Milton, Massachusetts. Located in the Dorchester-Milton Lower Mills Industrial District, it serves the MBTA's Mattapan Line. This station is accessible via wooden ramps on both platforms.

History

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Railroad station

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Milton station in 1929, shortly before it was demolished for the streetcar conversion

The station originally opened in 1848 as Milton Mills, a station on the Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad, a subsidiary of the Old Colony Railroad.[2] The station was renamed Milton Lower Mills in 1871.[3] The Shawmut Branch Railroad opened between Harrison Square and Milton Lower Mills on December 2, 1872, and most Mattapan–Boston service began using that line north of Milton Lower Mills.[4]

A new station building was constructed in 1884–85.[5][6] On February 2, 1885, the station was renamed Milton at the request of residents, who considered the new name "more dignified".[3][4] The building was destroyed on February 28, 1887, by a fire caused by a lamp explosion. The loss to the railroad was estimated at $20,000 (equivalent to $590,000 in 2023).[7] A temporary station was in use until construction began on a new station on August 30.[8] Some 30 by 80 feet (9.1 m × 24.4 m) in size, it was completed later in 1887.[9][10]

Streetcar station

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Milton station in 1930

Conversion of the section between Ashmont and Mattapan to an interurban-style streetcar line by the Boston Elevated Railway began in 1926. The former Milton station building was demolished in May 1929.[3] The segment of the Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line from Ashmont to Milton was opened on August 26, 1929. Milton was the terminus of the streetcar line until the remaining segment to Mattapan opened on December 21, 1929.[11]

On March 18, 1968, the Neponset River flooded the line at Milton station after a 7-inch (180 mm) rainfall. Restoration work began at 6:00 am on March 21 as the waters receded; service was resumed by 4:30 pm.[12][13] In June 2006, Milton station was closed for 18 months while the MBTA renovated stations on the Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line. Streetcar service was replaced by shuttle buses, and resumed in December 2007.[11][14]

The stairs to the station from Adams Street – the only entrance not via private parking lots - were closed in 2018 due to deteriorating condition. The MBTA did not repair the stairs because doing so would trigger a larger accessibility renovation of the station, likely including an elevator. In August 2022, the town of Milton threatened to sue the MBTA to force repair of the stairs.[15] The MBTA, in response, indicated it would demolish the stairs rather than repairing them.[16] The Milton board voted in September to sue the MBTA; at that point, the MBTA intended to demolish the stairs by the end of the year.[17] The lawsuit was filed in October 2022.[18] Despite the objections of town officials, including an appeal to state governor Maura Healey, the MBTA demolished the staircase on March 6–9, 2023.[19][20][21]

The MBTA plans to convert the line to modern light rail equipment. All stations would have raised platforms for level boarding on the new vehicles. An elevator to the inbound platform would be added at Milton, with an accessible ramp possibly added prior to the main renovation. Construction cost for Milton station was estimated as $11.5 million in 2023.[1] In December 2023, the Milton Conservation Commission approved plans for an accessible path from Adams Street to the northbound platform – an interim measure to improve access to the station.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mattapan Line Transformation Public Information Meeting" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. June 20, 2023.
  2. ^ Poor, Henry V. (1860). History of the Railroads and Canals of the United States. New York: J. H. Schultz. p. 113. OCLC 6838395.
  3. ^ a b c Cheney, Frank (2002). Boston's Red Line: Bridging the Charles from Alewife to Braintree. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738510477.
  4. ^ a b Jacobs, Warren (October 1928). "Dates of Some of the Principal Events in the History of 100 Years of the Railroad in New England. 1826-1926". Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin. 17 (17). Railway and Locomotive Historical Society: 15–28. JSTOR 43504499.
  5. ^ Twenty-First Annual Report of the Old Colony Railroad Co. to the Stockholders. Old Colony Railroad Company. November 1884. p. 7.
  6. ^ Twenty-Second Annual Report of the Old Colony Railroad Co. to the Stockholders. Old Colony Railroad Company. November 1885. p. 7.
  7. ^ "Milton Depot Burned". The Boston Globe. March 1, 1887. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "A New Depot for Milton". The Boston Globe. August 31, 1887. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Railroad Racket". The Boston Globe. September 1, 1887. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the Old Colony Railroad Co. to the Stockholders. Old Colony Railroad Company. November 1887. p. 6.
  11. ^ a b Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
  12. ^ Fourth Annual Report (Covering the period October 1, 1967 - October 31, 1968) of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 1968. p. 218 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ "This Time in History". Rollsign. Vol. 55, no. 5/6. Boston Street Railway Association. May–June 2018. p. 14.
  14. ^ "Mattapan Trolley Re-opens". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. December 20, 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
  15. ^ Hanson, Fred (September 14, 2022). "Milton threatens MBTA with 'last-resort' lawsuit over long-closed trolley station stairway". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  16. ^ Seltz, Johanna. "Milton says it's fed up with closed-off staircase at MBTA station". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on September 16, 2022.
  17. ^ Hanson, Fred (September 27, 2022). "After years of 'serious frustration,' Milton to sue MBTA for new stairway at trolley station". Patriot Ledger. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  18. ^ Cushman Carroll, Elaine (October 11, 2022). "Town sues MBTA over Milton Station stairs". Milton Times. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  19. ^ "Upcoming Service Changes on the Red, Mattapan, Orange, and Green Lines as well as Haverhill and Newburyport/Rockport Commuter Rail Lines in March" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. February 14, 2023.
  20. ^ Gavin, Christopher (March 6, 2023). "Why Milton is up in arms as the MBTA begins demolishing a station's staircase". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023.
  21. ^ Cushman Carroll, Elaine (March 17, 2023). "MBTA staircase destruction creates frustration". Milton Times. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023.
  22. ^ Carroll, Elaine Cushman (January 3, 2024). "New ADA path to Milton Station approval". Milton Times. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
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