Waban station

Waban
Waban
	An outbound train at Waban station in September 2015
Location	Beacon Street and Waban Square; Newton, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°19′33″N 71°13′50″W / 42.32583°N 71.23056°WCoordinates: 42°19′33″N 71°13′50″W / 42.32583°N 71.23056°W
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Highland branch
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Parking	74 spaces ($6.00 fee)
Bicycle facilities	12 spaces
History
Opened	July 4, 1959
Passengers
2011 daily	545
Services
show Former services

Waban is a surface-level light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Green Line D branch, located just south of Beacon Street at Waban Square in the Waban section of Newton, Massachusetts. The station is located below grade; access to both platforms is via Wyman Street on the outbound side of the tracks or a stairway from Beacon Street. Waban is not accessible.

History[]

Waban station on a 1907 postcard

Waban formerly boasted an H.H. Richardson-designed train station, like those still standing in Newton Highlands and Newton Centre. The original station was completed in August 1886 as part of the Boston and Albany Railroad's Highland branch and was one of the last stations designed by Richardson before his death in April 1886.^[3]

Waban closed along with the rest of the Highland branch commuter rail line in 1958 and reopened on July 4, 1959 as part of the light rail D branch. The H. H. Richardson station was demolished in order to build a 57-space parking lot.

The station has two MBTA ticket machines for reloading stored-value CharlieCards and buying CharlieTickets, as well one fare validation machine. All three are enclosed in a heated passenger shed near the center of the inbound platform.

On May 28, 2008, two westbound Green Line trains collided between Waban and Woodland, killing one person.

In 2019, the MBTA indicated that the four remaining non-accessible stops on the D branch were "Tier I" accessibility priorities.^[4] A preliminary design contract for accessibility modifications at the four stations was issued in February 2021.^[5] As of April 2021, final design is expected to be complete in early 2022, with construction from mid-2022 to mid-2023.^[6]