Butler (MBTA station)

BUTLER
Outbound PCC car stopped at Butler in 2011
Location	Butler Street and Branchfield Street Boston, MA
Coordinates	42°16′20″N 71°03′45″W / 42.272253°N 71.062453°WCoordinates: 42°16′20″N 71°03′45″W / 42.272253°N 71.062453°W
Owned by	MBTA
Line(s)	Red Line– Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Construction
Parking	40 spaces ($4.00 fee)
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	October 7, 1931[1][2]
Rebuilt	June 24, 2006 - December 22, 2007[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2010)	143 (weekday inbound average)[3]
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Cedar Grove toward Ashmont Red Line Mattapan High Speed Line Milton toward Mattapan

Butler is a light rail station on the MBTA Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line, located at Butler Street in the Lower Mills section of the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It serves a small residential area sandwiched between the Neponset River, Cedar Grove Cemetery, and Dorchester Park. Butler station has no MBTA Bus connections. It is handicapped accessible via a wooden ramp on the station's single island platform.

History

Old Colony branches

In December 1847, the Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad opened from Neponset to Mattapan and was immediately leased by the Old Colony Railroad as its Milton Branch. The Old Colony built its Shawmut Branch Railroad from Harrison Square to Milton in December 1872. Neither line had a station at Butler Street, though a freight house for Milton was at one point located at the street crossing.^[4][5] The Old Colony Railroad became part of the New Haven Railroad system in 1893.^[4]

Passenger service on the Shawmut Branch ended in September 1926 in preparation for the Dorchester Extension, though Milton Branch service continued until 1929. Trolley service between Ashmont and Milton on the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line began on August 26, 1929, with a single intermediate stop at Cedar Grove.^[2][1]

Butler station

Butler station in 2011 after the 2006-2007 reconstruction

An infill station, Butler, opened on October 7, 1931.^[2][1] Uniquely on the line, the station was built with a single center island platform rather than two side platforms; this was necessary because freight service continued on the Milton Branch which bracketed the trolley tracks. A footbridge spanned all four tracks with a set of stairs leading to the station platform, which was covered by a canopy.^[6]

In the early 1980s, the station was rebuilt. The pedestrian bridge was removed and a grade crossing built for platform access; the outer parts also served as small side platforms. An awkward gable roof was added to the old canopy supports.^[6]

The entire line was closed on June 24, 2006, for a yearlong renovation of the track and stations. Butler station received a new platform and canopy, with a wooden ramp for handicapped accessibility. It reopened with the rest of the line on December 22, 2007.^[1]

References

1. Belcher, Jonathan (26 December 2015). "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district 1964-2015" (PDF). NETransit. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
2. A Chronicle of the Boston Transit System. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 1981. p. 4 – via Internet Archive.
3. "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14 ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
4. Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. pp. 310–315. ISBN 0942147022.
5. "Part of Wards 20 and 21, City of Boston". Atlas of The City of Boston, Dorchester (G.W. Bromley and Co.). 1918 – via Ward Maps.
6. O'Regan, Gerry; Pickering, Bob. "MBTA Mattapan-Ashmont Line". nycsubway.org. Retrieved 7 January 2016.

External links

• MBTA - Butler
• Station from Google Maps Street View