Aquarium station is an underground rapid transit station on the MBTA Blue Line in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is located under State Street at Atlantic Avenue on the eastern edge of Boston's Financial District near Boston Harbor. The station is named for the nearby New England Aquarium. It is adjacent to Long Wharf, which is used by four MBTA ferry routes. The station has two side platforms serving the two tracks of the Blue Line; an arched ceiling runs the length of the platform level. With the platforms below street level, it is the second-deepest station on the MBTA system (after Porter station).

The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) opened the Atlantic Avenue Elevated on August 22, 1901, with a station at State Street. The BERy opened the East Boston Tunnel under State Street and Long Wharf for streetcars on December 30, 1904. Construction of the intermediate station at Atlantic Avenue under the Elevated was delayed; it opened on April 5, 1906. Unlike other early stations in Boston, which were built with cut-and-cover tunneling, most of Atlantic Avenue station was built as a large barrel vault. The access shaft at the east end of the station was topped with a three-story headhouse, which included a footbridge to the elevated station. Four unusual angled elevators connected the headhouse to the platforms.

In 1924, the Boston Transit Department implemented a long-planned project to convert the tunnel from streetcars to high-floor metro trains, with high platforms added at the station. The Atlantic Avenue Elevated closed in 1938, while the subway station remained open. In 1948, the city began replacing the old headhouse and elevators with a smaller structure and escalators. On January 28, 1949, a welder ignited a grease fire that exploded down an elevator shaft, killing three people and burning numerous others. The station was closed until the completion of the renovations in January 1950. The station was renamed Aquarium in 1967 as part of rebranding by the 1964-formed Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).

The MBTA began construction on a major renovation of the station in 1996. The platforms were lengthened for six-car trains, new entrances were added west of Atlantic Avenue, and the station was made fully accessible. The station was closed from October 14, 2000 to October 29, 2001; major construction was completed in 2003. Since the renovation, the station has had water leakage issues; it also occasionally floods during high tides and storm surges. The proposed North-South Rail Link includes a possible Central Station for MBTA Commuter Rail trains located under Aquarium station.

Station layout

thumb|left|alt=An angled glass entrance to a subway station|The main east headhouse on Long Wharf

Aquarium station is located under State Street at its intersection with Atlantic Avenue, near the edge of Boston Harbor. The station has two side platforms—each long enough for six-car trains—serving the two tracks of the Blue Line. The older eastern part of the platform level has an arched ceiling, which widens to a triple vault in the newer western section. Like the other four stations on the line, State Street had a single elevated island platform with a single mezzanine underneath. Not until July 25, 1901 did the Commission determine that the Tunnel would run under State Street, with a station at Atlantic Avenue next to busy Long Wharf. The station was constructed in two sections under separate contracts. "Atlantic Chambers", which served as the west end of the underwater portion of the tunnel, was built in an open cut just west of Atlantic Avenue; it housed the elevators and stairways to access the station as well as the ticket booths. The main arched station, to the west of Atlantic Chambers, was built with drifts. The two side platforms were long, wide, and below the surface. It was necessary to use additional dunnage to limit sagging of the elevated line above; even so, elevated operations were impacted from June 20 to October 7, 1903.

thumb|right|The headhouse and State Street station in 1905|alt=A two-story structure connected with a footbridge to an elevated rapid transit station

A three-story headhouse, measuring , was built over Atlantic Chambers. The elevators were about apart on the platforms and apart at both headhouse levels; as late as the 1940s, the elevators were unique among subway stations. The BTC awarded the contract for the headhouse on August 15, 1904, with completion scheduled for December 15; however, manufacture of the steel components was severely delayed.

Modifications

thumb|left|The station in 1963 showing the 1924-added high-level platforms|alt=A rapid transit train in an arched underground station

In August 1908, the elevated platform was again expanded southwards, this time to eight-car length—about —to match the length of platforms in the nearly-complete Washington Street Tunnel. An extension of the elevated mezzanine and a second exit stairwell from the elevated platform to the mezzanine opened on October 26, 1908.

Platform raising

The East Boston Tunnel was originally planned to be operated with high-floor metro rolling stock and connected to the then-planned Cambridge Elevated line. When that plan was dropped in 1903 due to a disagreement between the BTC and the BERy, the stations were built with low platforms. Large bi-loading streetcars (with high floors but capable of loading from low platforms), which incorporated many attributes from metro cars used on the Main Line El, began use in 1905. However, neither these nor the large center-entrance cars introduced in 1917 (which were designed for multiple unit operation) could fully handle the crowds. The next year, the BTD board approved the construction of high-level platforms at Atlantic Avenue, Devonshire, Scollay Under, and Bowdoin. Construction of concrete high-level platforms above the rails at Atlantic Avenue began in December 1923 or January 1924. A section of low-level platform was left to serve streetcars during construction. Over the weekend of April 18–21, 1924, the East Boston Tunnel was converted to high-floor metro stock. Temporary wooden platform sections were put in place to allow service to begin on April 21, with the permanent concrete sections completed by July 12. The elevators at Atlantic Avenue were also modified for the new platform heights. The edges of the original low platforms can still be seen under the high platforms.

Fire and new headhouse

thumb|right|A diagram of the 1949 fire|alt=A diagram showing the locations and events of the 1949 fire

The East Boston Tunnel cut sharply into East Boston ferry ridership, which in turn reduced connecting ridership on the Atlantic Avenue Elevated. In 1948, the Boston Transit Department awarded a $350,000 contract to add the new escalators, remove the elevators, and construct a new headhouse on the north side of State Street.

On January 28, 1949, a grease fire ignited by the acetylene torch of a welder removing one of the elevators spread down the elevator shaft and onto the platforms. The fire occurred during the morning rush hour, with 300 passengers having just alighted from an eastbound train. Most escaped through the emergency exit, which was opened by a passenger, while some used the stairs in the main headhouse. The fire was compared to the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire due to the intensity of the victims' burns.

After the fire, the station was closed until construction was completed. The fire sparked political debate into the safety record of the MTA (which had replaced the BERy in 1947), and which entity was to blame: the city owned the subway lines and stations within its borders, while the MTA operated them. The new headhouse was a rectangular structure made of limestone and granite in the Stripped Classical style, with four escalators replacing the old elevators.

MBTA era

thumb|right|The 1950-opened headhouse around 1980

The construction of the Central Artery in the 1950s left the station cut off from Downtown Boston to the west. Atlantic Avenue station was renamed Aquarium on February 13, 1967, as part of a general rebranding by the newly created MBTA. The then-under-construction New England Aquarium, which opened in 1969, was only from the existing station. The subway lines were given colored identifying names, with the East Boston Tunnel route becoming the Blue Line, and several other downtown stations were renamed. The renovation included a steel-and-fiberglass ceiling liner intended to reduce water intrusion and noise. Porcelain panels on the station walls were decorated with fish drawings from a 19th-century book. The headhouse was not substantially modified; it was expected to be rebuilt later as part of a New England Telephone building.

In the 1970s, part of Atlantic Avenue was relocated a block to the west under the Central Artery for redevelopment, which left Aquarium station on the east side of the realigned street. With its platforms some below street level, Aquarium was the deepest station on the MBTA until Porter station opened in 1984. The aging escalators were responsible for several injuries, including in 1995 when a three-year-old's leg was badly cut.

Reconstruction

thumb|left|The west end of the platforms, showing the elevators to the west mezzanine added in the 1996-2003 reconstruction|alt=Two elevators and stairs leading up from underground station platforms

In 1988, the MBTA began a major renovation project to lengthen Blue Line station platforms for use of six-car trains. On February 14, 1990, the MBTA board voted to move the renovation of Aquarium station—including a new entrance on State Street—into final design.

In 1996, the MBTA began construction of the renovation and platform lengthening project at Aquarium. The renovated Long Wharf entrance, with two headhouses on the east side of the Kennedy Greenway, did not reopen until September 22, 2003. The entire reconstruction cost $110 million.

The reconstructed station was designed by Harry Ellenzweig, who had previously designed Alewife station for the MBTA decades earlier. The original station was extended westward, with wider platforms in the new section. The western extension has a "triple vaulted aluminum ceiling", with the middle vault matching the curve of the original arch. a pair of -long black-and-white tile mosaics by Jun Kaneko. They were installed as part of the Arts on the Line program.

Water issues

thumb|right|Water leaks on the eastbound platform, photographed in 2019|alt=A station platform with several puddles of muddy water

Since the 1996–2003 reconstruction, Aquarium station has been plagued by water leaks, which may have been caused either by the renovation or by adjacent Big Dig construction. A nor'easter that March caused flooding that again briefly closed the station. These floods damaged elevators and escalators at the station, leaving them out of service for months.

In 2019, the MBTA began using temporary barriers to control flooding at Aquarium during storms. A 14-day closure of the Blue Line for maintenance work in May 2020 included drainage work at Aquarium. A $1.7 million project, which took place from August 2020 to March 2021, added supports for aluminum planks that can be temporarily installed during high water events.

Central Station proposal

The North–South Rail Link (NSRL) is a proposed railway tunnel which would link the two halves of the MBTA Commuter Rail system between North Station and South Station under downtown Boston. It was originally proposed to run deep beneath the Central Artery, passing under Aquarium station at a depth of . In 2003, the MBTA released the Major Investment Study/Draft Environmental Impact Report, which considered two-track and four-track NSRL designs with or without an intermediate Central Station. The station would have platforms between State Street and Broad Street. It would have four headhouses—two just north of Milk Street, and two just south of India Street and East India Row—plus a direct connection to Aquarium station. The report estimated that adding Central Station would increase commuter rail ridership by between 3,500 and 12,800 daily trips (depending on other elements of the tunnel design), but add between $540 million and $817 million (about one-sixth) to the total costs of construction.

A 2018 re-evaluation of the NSRL examined two-track and four-track alternatives under the Central Artery, as well as two-track alternatives under Congress Street (which was rejected in the 2003 report). Only the more-expensive four-track option would include Central Station. However, the Congress Street alternatives would have their northern station under Haymarket Square rather than under the existing North Station; this would allow for a Blue Line connection at State rather than Aquarium.

References

  • MBTA – Aquarium
  • Google Maps Street View: Long Wharf headhouse, State Street headhouses