Back Bay (MBTA station)

Back Bay
	The main entrance on Dartmouth Street
Data
Location in the network	Separation station
Design	Wedge station
abbreviation	BBY
Price range	3
opening	May 4th 1987
Architectural data
architect	Kallmann McKinnell & Wood
location
City / municipality	Boston
State	Massachusetts
Country	United States
Coordinates	42 ° 20 '50 " N , 71 ° 4' 32" W Coordinates: 42 ° 20 '50 " N , 71 ° 4' 32" W.
Railway lines
	Boston – Worcester railway line; Boston – Needham railway line; Boston – Franklin railway line; Boston – Providence railway line;
List of train stations in the United States

The station Back Bay is located at the address 145 Dartmouth Street in the same district of the city of Boston in the state of Massachusetts of the United States . The building in use today was designed by the architects Kallmann McKinnell & Wood .

The station is in the long-distance passenger trains of Amtrak ( Acela Express , Lake Shore Limited and Northeast Regional ) or in the rail transport of the lines Providence / Stoughton , Framingham / Worcester , Needham and Franklin as well as the metro Orange Line of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) served. The station is also served by two bus routes.

history

The current building opened on May 4, 1987 as part of the Orange Line's Southwest Corridor project and was inaugurated by then Governor Michael Dukakis . The new building replaced the older structure of the same name, first constructed in 1899 and rebuilt in 1929, of the former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad . Some remains can still be found at the east end of the building, including a stone with chiseled lettering that was integrated into the brick wall.

Air quality

On this central platform of the station it can be seen that gases in the air cause halos around the ceiling lamps.

The station suffered from very poor air quality for a long time, and there was the official recommendation for people with lung problems to avoid the station. Studies carried out in 2006 and 2008 showed that “the air quality was many times below the usual standards”, which was mainly attributed to non-derived diesel exhaust gases and soot. Most of the platforms are completely covered and enclosed so that exhaust gases cannot escape quickly enough. Earlier studies had already determined increased concentrations of carbon monoxide , formaldehyde , soot particles and nitrogen oxides , but at the same time indicated that there are no standards to be complied with for indoor areas in public buildings. Due to a lack of financial resources, which did not allow an improvement of the ventilation system, the MBTA limited itself to minor changes in the cycle operation and more intensive maintenance of the diesel engines of the locomotives.

Only in 2010, the MBTA announced that they with an investment of 3 million US dollars would improve ventilation in the lobby. The money for this was provided by the state of Massachusetts from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act . The work is scheduled to be completed in 2012.

Railway systems

The train station as viewed west from Berkeley Street . V. l. right: tracks 2, 1 and 3; Rails of the Orange Line with busbar ; Tracks 5 and 7.

Track, signal and security systems

The station has a total of seven tracks and four platforms, three of which are designed as a central platform and one as a side platform . Tracks 1, 2 and 3 serve the Acela Express and Amtrak's Northeast Regional, as well as the MBTA's Needham , Franklin and Providence routes . The Boston – Worcester and Lake Shore Limited trains stop on platforms 5 and 7 . The two tracks of the Orange Line are between these two groups.

building

The entire station building is barrier-free . The platforms of the connections to Framingham / Worcester and Lake Shore Limited are only made accessible in a shortened section so that not every wagon may be accessible.

As part of the MBTA's Arts on the Line project, the work of art “Neon for Back Bay Station” by Stephen Antonakos was installed in the station. It consists of three multicolored neon sculptures that are placed above head height at the entrances. Outside the station there are also two granite columns (“Counterpoint” by Jane Barnes and “If My Boundary Stops Here” by Ruth Whitman ) with engraved texts.

environment

A bus at the back entrance of Back Bay Station

The train station is two bus lines of the MBTA served. The stop is at the back of the building. In addition to the main entrances, various emergency exits lead from the platforms to Dartmouth Street , Clarendon Street and Columbus Avenue . The underpass to Dartmouth Street connects the Copley Place shopping center with the station building.

Individual evidence

^ Boston - Back Bay, MA (BBY). In: The Great American Stations. Retrieved January 12, 2013 .
^ Suffolk County. Railroad Stations in Massachusetts, accessed January 12, 2013 .
↑ Photo of the stone. In: Google Street View . Google , accessed January 12, 2013 .
↑ Christine Pazzanese: Bad air at Back Bay too costly to fix, T says. In: The Boston Globe . August 31, 2008, accessed January 12, 2013 .
↑ Federal stimulus funds mean state to do something about the lung cancer chamber known as Back Bay station. August 3, 2010, accessed January 12, 2013 .
^ Matt Rocheleau: Amid complaints, T aims to fix Back Bay station's ventilation system. In: The Boston Globe . October 1, 2010, accessed January 12, 2013 .
↑ Patrik R. Held: Massachusetts Bay Colony Railroad Track Charts. ( PDF ; 15.4 MB) (No longer available online.) Johns Hopkins Association for Computing Machinery, 2010, archived from the original on October 8, 2013 ; accessed on January 12, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ On the Orange Line. ( PDF ; 4.6 MB) Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority , accessed January 24, 2013 .

Web links

Commons : Back Bay station - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Official website for the station of the MBTA

Previous station		Next station
Massachusetts Avenue towards Forest Hills	Orange line	Tufts Medical Center towards Oak Grove
Yawkey towards Worcester	MBTA Commuter Rail Framingham / Worcester Line	Boston South Station terminus
Ruggles towards Needham Heights	MBTA Commuter Rail Needham Line	Boston South Station terminus
Ruggles towards Forge Park / 495	MBTA Commuter Rail Franklin Line	Boston South Station terminus
Ruggles towards Wickford Junction / Stoughton	MBTA Commuter Rail Providence / Stoughton Line	Boston South Station terminus

[bby-1] Boston - Back Bay, MA (BBY). In: The Great American Stations. Retrieved January 12, 2013 .

[2] Suffolk County. Railroad Stations in Massachusetts, accessed January 12, 2013 .

[3] Photo of the stone. In: Google Street View . Google , accessed January 12, 2013 .

[4] Christine Pazzanese: Bad air at Back Bay too costly to fix, T says. In: The Boston Globe . August 31, 2008, accessed January 12, 2013 .

[5] Federal stimulus funds mean state to do something about the lung cancer chamber known as Back Bay station. August 3, 2010, accessed January 12, 2013 .

[6] Matt Rocheleau: Amid complaints, T aims to fix Back Bay station's ventilation system. In: The Boston Globe . October 1, 2010, accessed January 12, 2013 .

[7] Patrik R. Held: Massachusetts Bay Colony Railroad Track Charts. ( PDF ; 15.4 MB) (No longer available online.) Johns Hopkins Association for Computing Machinery, 2010, archived from the original on October 8, 2013 ; accessed on January 12, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2

[8] On the Orange Line. ( PDF ; 4.6 MB) Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority , accessed January 24, 2013 .