Two Terminals — North South Rail Link

Boston's Two Terminals and Early Efforts to Link Them

Our current regional rail systems are largely the product of bold but uncoordinated expansion followed by incomplete integration.

Each line was built by private companies serving particular destinations, and fostering development all along the routes. In the late 19th century, as traffic grew and the rail yards became ever more unwieldy, the many small terminals that served the lines extending north and south of the city were consolidated into two great terminals, at North and South Stations. North Station was completed in 1893. South Station followed in 1900.

North Station, Boston circa 1905   [Detroit Publishing Company] — North Station, Boston circa 1905 [Detroit Publishing Company]

North Station, built in 1893, was once the busiest rail station in the nation and a stunning gateway to (and from) points north. Architecture was deployed not just as a noble civic device, but for savvy commercial purposes, helping to make the railroads attractive and seductive, for all social classes.

South Station was completed in 1900, with a staggering 28 tracks under its vast shed roof. Proponents of South Station Expansion explicitly cite the 1900 station as a model for the future, when the obsolescence of the terminal concept was recognized within just a few years of its completion.

South Station, with the Atlantic Avenue Elevated Railway in the foreground   [© Detroit Publishing Co. courtesy of BPL Digital Commonwealth Project] — South Station, with the Atlantic Avenue Elevated Railway in the foreground [© Detroit Publishing Co. courtesy of BPL Digital Commonwealth Project]

By 1912 the railroads, the City and the Legislature were actively pursuing plans for a North South Rail Link, not because passengers could not get from one terminal to the other – they actually could do this using the Atlantic Avenue Elevated line, which linked the two – but because the terminal operations were so incredibly inefficient and costly.

The Atlantic Avenue Elevated railway near Rowe's Wharf, looking north, July 21, 1932   [photo © Leslie Jones via BPL Digital Commonwealth Project] — The Atlantic Avenue Elevated railway near Rowe's Wharf, looking north, July 21, 1932 [photo © Leslie Jones via BPL Digital Commonwealth Project]

A plan was developed to purchase property between North and South Station, demolish the buildings,
build a rail link one level below grade, and then construct a beautiful new boulevard on the surface. Two World Wars and a Great Depression intervened.

Map of Boston proper, showing proposed railroad tunnels and business streets, October 1914   [Boston Public Library] — Map of Boston proper, showing proposed railroad tunnels and business streets, October 1914 [Boston Public Library]

Click on arrows on either side of the picture. Read along at the bottom of each picture.

Map of Back Bay, 1852

This drawing shows that even before the Back Bay was filled and building lots laid out, it was crossed by two railroad causeways, built by the Boston & Providence and Boston & Worcester (later Albany) Railroads. The B&P terminal at opposite the Public Garden is visible on the right. [Boston Public Library (map by Ezra Lincoln, commissioned by the Legislature)]

1892 map showing the four railroad terminals whose lines are now part of the MBTA northside commuter rail system, prior to their unification; Bromley Atlas of Boston, 1892

[MIT Museum]

Boston & Lowell Railroad Depot, looking east along Causeway Street

The Eastern Railroad and Fitchburg RR terminals are visible beyond. [Boston Public Library]

Fitchburg Railroad Depot

[BPL Digital Commonwealth Project]

Boston & Maine Depot at Haymarket Square, Boston, looking north

[BPL Digital Commonwealth Project]

North Station ca. 1905

source: Bromley Atlas of Boston, 1892

With the construction of South Station in 1900, three separate railroads were able to unify their operations in a single great terminal with 28 tracks. This plan from 1893 shows the three three separate terminals: Boston & Providence at Park Square (upper left), and the Boston & Albany and Old Colony Lines on Kneeland Street. [MIT Museum]

Detail of the Boston & Providence Depot prior to the Prior to the construction of South Station. Bromley Atlas of Boston, 1892

[BPL Digital Commonwealth Project]

Boston & Providence Depot, Park Square Boston

[Boston Public Library]

Detail of the Boston & Albany and Old Colony terminals, a few blocks from the present site of South Station. Bromley Atlas of Boston, 1892

[MIT Museum]

Boston & Albany Railroad Depot in Kneeland Street, before its replacement by South Station in 1900

[BPL Digital Commonwealth Project]

South Station ca. 1900, prior to the construction of the Atlantic Avenue Elevated line in 1901

[BPL Digital Commonwealth Project]

South Station, 1905

South Station was completed in 1900, with 28 tracks under its vast shed roof. Proponents of South Station Expansion explicitly cite the 1900 station as a model for the future, when the obsolescence of the terminal concept was recognized within just a few years of its completion. [© Detroit Publishing Co.]

Atlantic Avenue Elevated Line, 1932

South Station Shed, 1905

South Station united several private railroads serving cities to the south and west of Boston under a single vast roof, covering all platforms and waiting trains. Tracks extended right to the edge of Fort Point Channel, but even then, the limitations of stub-end service were becoming apparent. The great train shed roof was dismantled in 1930. [photo by Leslie Jones]

Diagram of Trcks and Signals at South Station, 1900

Within a few years the inefficiency of this arrangement, even with 28 tracks, and an elevated rail link running between North and South Station, had become apparent. [BPL Digital Commonwealth Project]

South Station yard

South Station was built to replace 3 separate terminals. Even with 28 tracks and a passenger link between North and South Stations, the inefficiency of stub-end operations soon made clear that run-through service was needed, and plans were drawn to link the two downtown terminals. [Library of Congress]

Boston Evening Transcript, January 30, 1911

Just a few years after South Station and North Station were built, the limitations of stub-end service were becoming apparent, and plans were made to link them with a tunnel. It was calculated that the operating savings alone would pay most of the cost of acquiring the land and building the tunnel. A new boulevard was planned above the tunnel. [The Boston Evening Transcript, January 30, 1911]

Wead Tunnel Plan, 1914

Plan of the proposed north south rail link, prepared by Leslie Wead in October 1914. War and depression delayed the plan, and then the post-war rise of the automobile led to the construction of an elevated highway along essentially the same route. [Boston Public Library]

Planning Board Report, 1914

Three years later, in 1914, the Boston City Planning Board recommended construction of the propose rail link between North and South Stations....

Planning Board Report, 1914

...citing both economic efficiency and much improved convenience for commuters arriving from the north and south of the city

Boston Daily Globe, 1914

News accounts in the fall of 1914 noted that the tunnel "would make it possible for persons working near the North Station to live in a southern suburb" and vice versa. Because of its great efficiency, the plan was expected to present no burden to taxpayers.

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