Revere Beach station is a rapid transit station in Revere, Massachusetts. Located between Beach Street and Shirley Avenue, it serves the MBTA Blue Line. It serves Revere Beach, a popular summer destination with a substantial year-round resident population. It opened in January 1954 on the site of a former Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad station, as part of an extension to Wonderland. Revere Beach station was closed and rebuilt from 1994 to 1995.
Like all Blue Line stations from Airport east, Revere Beach has two tracks and two side platforms. Uniquely among Blue Line stations, it is located below grade in a trench, with a surface-level fare lobby. Entrances to the station are from Beach Street and Shirley Avenue.
History
Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn
thumb|left|Crescent Beach station on a 1910 postcard
The narrow gauge Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad (BRB&L) opened from East Boston to Lynn on July 29, 1875. The line ran directly adjacent to the beachfront, a popular summer destination, on the alignment of the modern Revere Beach Boulevard. Revere station at Beach Street was among the initial stations. The station was renamed Pavilion in the late 1870s and Crescent Beach in 1884.
The Eastern Railroad-backed Boston, Winthrop, and Shore Railroad (BW&S) operated slightly inland in 1884 and 1885, with its own Crescent Beach station just west of the BRB&L station. A new BRB&L station was opened on October 31, 1887. It was located at Centennial Street, about south of the previous location. It was very similar in design to Chatham station – which opened the same year – with a polygonal tower on the track side of the building.
In April 1897, the BRB&L was moved inland onto the BW&S right-of-way, with Crescent Beach station relocated to the new alignment. However, due to the Great Depression, the BRB&L shut down on January 27, 1940. Crescent Beach station was demolished in the early 1940s. The 1926 Report on Improved Transportation Facilities and 1945–47 Coolidge Commission Report recommended that the East Boston Tunnel line, which had been converted to rapid transit from streetcars in 1924, be extended to Lynn via the BBRB&L route rather than using it for a trolley line.
In 1947, the newly formed Metropolitan Transit Authority (M.T.A.) decided to build to Lynn as a rapid transit line, and construction began in October 1948.
The station was closed while additional platform repair work was performed from August 2 through 29, 2008.<!--dates were extended after that press release-->
References
External links
- MBTA - Revere Beach
- Google Maps Street View: Beach Street entrance, Shirley Avenue entrance