Packards Corner station

Packards Corner
An inbound train at Packards Corner station in 2018
General information
Location	Commonwealth Avenue at Brighton Avenue Allston, Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°21′7.51″N 71°7′29″W
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	MBTA bus: 57
Passengers
2011	2,654 (weekday average boardings)
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station Harvard Avenue toward Boston College Green Line B branch Babcock Street toward Government Center
Former services Preceding station MBTA Following station Union Square toward Watertown Green Line A branch (closed 1969) Alcorn Street toward Park Street
Location

Packards Corner station (announced as Brighton Avenue/Packards Corner) is a light rail stop on the MBTA's Green Line B branch located at Packard's Corner—the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Brighton Avenue—in Allston, Boston, Massachusetts. The station is located in a median between the westbound travel lanes and frontage road of Commonwealth Avenue.

History

The Green Line A branch formerly diverged just north of the platforms; its trolleys stopped at separate Packards Corner platforms on Brighton Avenue. The Brighton Avenue streetcar reservation was removed from July 1 to October 5, 1949, and the side platforms for the Watertown Line were replaced with an island platform. The A branch was closed on June 21, 1969, and replaced with the route 57 bus, though the trackage was retained for non-revenue moves to Watertown Yard. The line was finally abandoned in 1994; a several-hundred-foot stub track was left until the mid-2000s to temporarily store disabled trains. The switch and the last few feet of track were not disconnected until track work in 2014.

Packards Corner was not made accessible during the initial 2001–03 round of Green Line station renovations. In 2019, the MBTA listed Packards Corner as a "Tier I" accessibility priority. Track work in 2018–19, which included replacement of platform edges at several stops, triggered requirements for accessibility modifications at those stops. Design for Packards Corner and four other B Branch stops was 30% complete by December 2022. By November, construction was expected to begin at Packards Corner in spring 2024, ahead of other B Branch stations. A design shown in March 2024 called for the platforms to be rebuilt at their current locations, with a new track crossing and crosswalk to the west sidewalk at the south end of the station. In May 2024, the Federal Transit Administration awarded the MBTA $67 million to construct accessible platforms at 14 B and C branch stops including Packards Corner. As of June 2024, construction is expected to start in fall 2025.

• 
  Watertown Line (future A Branch) platforms in 1948
• 
  A Boston College-bound (future B Branch) train at Packards Corner in 1965
• 
  Former A branch turnout switch in 2011

External links

Media related to Packards Corner station at Wikimedia Commons

• MBTA – Packards Corner
• Station from Brighton Avenue from Google Maps Street View