View of station from Berkeley Street overpass, looking westward. From left to right: Tracks 2, 1, 3; Orange Line tracks and train; Tracks 5 and 7.
There are 5 tracks serving Amtrak and commuter rail service. Tracks 2, 1, and 3 (in order south to north) serve Amtrak's Acela Express and Northeast Regional plus the MBTA's Providence/Stoughton Line, Franklin/Foxboro Line, and Needham Line. Tracks 5 and 7 on the Framingham/Worcester Line and the Lake Shore Limited serve westbound trains from a separate island platform.[4] Tracks 1 and 2 are considered the primary mainline tracks; the track numbering scheme used in the Boston area uses only odd numbers for additional tracks on the Track 1 side (hence Tracks 3, 5, and 7) and even numbers for tracks on the Track 2 side.[4] The Orange Line tracks and platforms lie between these two groups of mainline rail tracks.
Back Bay is fully accessible. The station has full-length high-level platforms on the three Northeast Corridor tracks, and a mini-high platform for the Worcester Line tracks. Elevators are available to access all platforms from the street-level station building.
The main station building is located between Dartmouth Street and Clarendon Street; however, there are secondary exits from the platforms onto Dartmouth Street, Clarendon Street, and Columbus Avenue. The Dartmouth Street Underpass connects the Copley Place shopping mall with the main station building. The underpass was closed from March 6, 2016 to June 1, 2017 during construction at Copley Place, during which it was given some refurbishment.[5][6]
Simultaneous with the construction of the resulting South Station in 1899, the New Haven also built its first Back Bay Station just east of Dartmouth Street to compete with the B&A's Columbus Avenue station. Back Bay station opened on September 19, 1899 – the same day that Providence Division trains began using South Station.[11] The next year, the B&A replaced Columbus Avenue station with the westbound-only Trinity Place and eastbound-only Huntington Avenue stations.[12]
The current Back Bay Station opened on May 4, 1987, as part of the Orange Line's Southwest Corridor project and was dedicated by Governor Michael Dukakis.[13] It replaced the 1899-built and 1929-rebuilt ex-New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad station of the same name, of which some remnants can still be found at the eastern end of the present station facilities, including a carved stone embedded in the brick wall on the east side of Columbus Avenue.[14] The reopened station had South End as a secondary name, approved in 1985 as part of a series of station name changes.[15]
The 1987 reconstruction added a waiting area with a 9-foot bronze statue dedicated to civil rights and labor movement pioneer A. Philip Randolph. The area includes various posters with historical photographs and interview excerpts regarding Randolph's career in organizing the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and work with the Civil Rights Movement.
In 1990, a northbound commuter train running along the Providence/Stoughton Line was involved in a collision with a northbound Night Owl train. The accident, which occurred at the west end of Back Bay, injured 453 people, although there were no fatalities.[16]
On September 22, 2006, the MBTA began allowing free inbound travel from Back Bay to South Station. This change was to allow travel from Back Bay hotels to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and Logan International Airport (using the Silver Line from South Station) without the need to transfer to the Red Line.[17] Until replaced with the CharlieCard Store at Downtown Crossing on August 13, 2012, an MBTA customer service booth for special pass users was located at Back Bay station.[18] The entire Orange Line, including the Orange Line platforms at Back Bay station, was closed from August 19 to September 18, 2022, during maintenance work. Amtrak and MBTA Commuter Rail service to the station was not changed.[19]
Air quality
Northeast Corridor platforms at Back Bay in 2011; fumes in the air cause the halos around the ceiling lights
Back Bay station has suffered from poor air quality since its opening; passengers with lung conditions have been advised to avoid the station. Much of the commuter rail infrastructure at Back Bay is covered and enclosed, and so diesel fumes cannot escape quickly to the outside air. A petition drive in 2000 gathered complaints about the then-"longstanding" issue.[20] Studies in 2006 and 2008 showed that "the air was many, many times below air-quality standards" due to trapped diesel exhaust and soot. An earlier study showed elevated levels of carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, particulates, and oxides of nitrogen, though it noted that there is no regulated standard to meet for indoor air quality in public spaces.
Though simple changes were made regarding scheduling, and checking to make sure train engines were running properly, in 2008 the MBTA claimed it lacked the financial resources to fully upgrade the ventilation system.[21]
In 2010, the MBTA announced that it had secured $3.0 million in federal stimulus money to improve the ventilation in the lobby.[22][23][24] While MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said there was no health threat, a scientist at the Clean Air Task Force, a Boston-based nonprofit pollution research group stated, "Honestly, down on the platform it was some of the worst air quality I've measured." Additionally passengers and clerks working in the station have complained. The MBTA said then that it would complete an improved ventilation system by 2012.[25]
On October 8, 2014, Amtrak removed its customer service and ticketing agents from the station due to the persistent air quality issues. Back Bay was to be an unstaffed station "until further notice" as improvements are made.[26] Amtrak personnel returned in 2015, but Amtrak pulled them again effective October 1, 2016.[27]
The station has remained unstaffed since then, though two Quik-Trak kiosks are available. However, baggage cannot be checked at the station. Despite being unstaffed, it remains one of the busiest Amtrak stations in the country. In 2018, it was the fourth-busiest Amtrak station in New England (behind South Station, Providence and New Haven Union) and the 16th-busiest nationwide.[28]
A $10 million ventilation project, funded equally by MassDOT and Boston Properties, was bid in 2016. The work will improve ventilation at the platform level and add "air curtains" to prevent exhaust fumes from reaching the concourse.[29] As of 2019[update], final designs are due to be submitted in 2020, and the work is expected to take until at least 2022.[30]
Privatization and renovations
In 2014, Boston Properties (which purchased the adjacent parking garage in 2010) began negotiating with the state for the right to build an air rights development atop the station and garage parcels, in exchange for managing the station and completing a $25 million renovation. Similar private management schemes were already in place at North Station and South Station, though without the real estate component.[31] An agreement was signed in late 2014, with the renovation budget increased to $32 million. In August 2015, the MBTA began paying Boston Properties a subsidy (as rents from retail spaces had been lower than expected) and agreed to fund some repairs to expansion joints not covered in the original agreement.[32]
Boston Properties filed notice with the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) in December 2015, beginning the permitting process.[33] Plans for the station and development were released in March 2016. The station renovation will include restoration of the original architecture, relocation of the Orange Line entrances, expanded waiting areas in the main concourse, renovated bathrooms, improved ventilation, and new retail spaces surrounding the concourse. The station work was then scheduled to begin in 2017 pending BRA approval.[34][35] As of November 2019[update], construction is planned to begin in 2021.[36]
Plans for wayfinding signage, lighting, and other station improvements for the Orange Line station were completed by May 2021.[37] On September 26, 2021, nine people were injured when an escalator at the station malfunctioned.[38]
^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. Railway and Locomotive Historical Society. 17 (17): 15–28. JSTOR43504499.
^Humphrey, Thomas J. & Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. p. 22. ISBN978-0-685-41294-7.
MBTA bus: 10, 39
