Kendall/MIT (MBTA station)

KENDALL

Outbound platform with historic timeline and images from nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Location Main Street at Broadway
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°21′44″N 71°05′10″W / 42.3623°N 71.0862°W / 42.3623; -71.0862Coordinates: 42°21′44″N 71°05′10″W / 42.3623°N 71.0862°W / 42.3623; -71.0862
Owned by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)
  Red Line
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Construction
Bicycle facilities 58 spaces
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened March 23, 1912[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2013) 15,433 (weekday average boardings)[2]
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station
toward Alewife
Red Line
toward Ashmont or Braintree

Kendall/MIT is an underground rapid transit station on the MBTA Red Line, located at the intersection of Main Street and Broadway in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is named for the primary areas it serves - the Kendall Square business district and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Opened in March 1912 as part of the original Cambridge Subway, Kendall/MIT has two side platforms serving the line's two tracks. The Kendall Band, a public art installation of hand-operated musical sculptures, is located between the tracks in the station with controls located on the platforms. Kendall/MIT station is fully handicapped accessible.

History

Kepler, one section of Kendall Band, in 2012

The Cambridge Subway opened from Park Street Under to Harvard on March 23, 1912, with intermediate stops at Central and Kendall.[1] From the early 20th century through the 1970s, the MBTA operated a powerhouse above ground in Kendall Square, including cycloconverters to transform incoming AC electrical power to 600 volts DC power fed to the third rail to run the subway. An old-fashioned cycloconverter consisted of an AC motor coupled to a huge, slowly rotating flywheel coupled to a DC generator, hence the name. With the development of compact modern semiconductor-based power rectifiers, the old electromechanical technology became obsolete. The MBTA powerhouse was demolished, and replaced with an office building located at the convergence of Broadway and Main Street.

Name changes and reconstruction

The MBTA has renamed the station on several occasions. On August 7, 1978, the station was renamed as Kendall/MIT to indicate the nearby presence of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[1] On December 2, 1982, Columbia station was renamed JFK/UMass and Kendall/MIT renamed as Cambridge Center/MIT after the adjacent Cambridge Center development, although most station signs were not changed.[1] On June 26, 1985, the name was reverted to Kendall/MIT.[1]

During the 1980s, the MBTA rebuilt Kendall/MIT and other Red Line stations with longer platforms for six-car trains and with elevators for handicapped accessibility. The rebuilt station was dedicated in October 1987 and six-car trains began operation on January 21, 1988.[3][1]

Kendall Band

Between 1986 and 1988, artist Paul Matisse installed Kendall Band, an interactive musical sculpture, at Kendall/MIT. Located between the Red line tracks at the station, it cost $90,000 to construct under the Arts on the Line program.[4] It consists of three musical devices - Pythagoras, Kepler, and Galileo - controlled by levers located on both subway platforms.[3] Although Matisse maintained it for several decades, it ultimately fell into disrepair. A group of MIT students began restoration in 2010, with Pythagoras rendered partially functional in May 2011.[5]

Cancelled plans

A twice-proposed commuter rail stop at Kendall Square would be located under the MIT Brain and Cognitive Science building; this location was also a proposed stop on the Urban Ring service

Kendall/MIT Station was a proposed stop on the MBTA's planned Urban Ring Project.[6] The Urban Ring was to be a circumferential Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line designed to connect the current radial MBTA rail lines, to reduce overcrowding in the downtown stations. Under the most recent plan, new surface-level BRT platforms would have been constructed on Main Street at Kendall/MIT.[7] The Urban Ring Project has been shelved due to the MBTA's financial difficulties.

In 2012, the state studied the feasibility of sending some Framingham/Worcester Line trains to North Station via the Grand Junction Railroad, including the possibility of a new commuter rail station at Kendall. The possible station would have consisted of a single platform between Main Street and Massachusetts Avenue and was estimated to cost $7.5 million.[8] After objections from the City of Cambridge over potential traffic problems due to the grade crossings on the Grand Junction, the MBTA declined to pursue implementation of the proposed service. In 2014, it was revealed by the state that the stop would be part of the proposed Indigo Line system with frequent DMU service, but that plan was canceled in 2015 for financial reasons.[9][10]

Station layout

The main outbound headhouse is adjacent to the MIT Coop
G Street Level Exit/Entrance
P
Platform level		 Side platform, doors will open on the right
Outbound ← Red Line toward Alewife (Central)
Inbound → Red Line toward Ashmont/Braintree (Charles/MGH) →
Side platform, doors will open on the right

There are two side platforms serving two tracks. Until most MBTA subway stations, Kendall/MIT station has no crossover mezzanine, and passengers cannot reverse direction within fare control.

Bus connections

CambridgeSide Galleria shuttle at Kendall/MIT in 2015

Four MBTA Bus routes stop at Kendall/MIT using a traffic lane that loops from Broadway inbound to Main Street outbound; all except the CT2 terminate there.[11]

The EZRide Cambridge - North Station private shuttle service stops at Kendall at all times. Although not part of the MBTA system, it is open to the general public and is shown on MBTA maps.

The CambridgeSide Galleria provides a free shuttle bus from Kendall/MIT.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Belcher, Jonathan (27 June 2015). "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district 1964-2015" (PDF). NETransit. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14 ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 Moskowitz, Eric (9 May 2010). "Grace notes from the underground". Boston Globe. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Daly, Gabriel J.; Velan, Sonam S. (7 December 2006). "T-Riders Ring the Sound of Science". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  5. ↑ "Kendall Square T station music installation back in working order". Wicked Local Cambridge. Cambridge Chronicle. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Urban Ring Phase 2 FACT SHEET" (PDF). January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  7. ↑ "The Urban Ring Phase 2: Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report/Statement" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. November 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  8. ↑ Peterson, Scott A. (July 2012). "Grand Junction Transportation Feasibility Study" (PDF). Central Transportation Planning Staff. p. 72. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  9. ↑ Annear, Steve (9 January 2014). "Take A Ride On The MBTA's 'New Indigo Line' In 2024". Boston Magazine. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  10. ↑ Stout, Matt (20 June 2015). "Charlie Baker derails T trains". Boston Herald. Archived from the original on 27 July 2015.
  11. ↑ "Kendall/MIT Station Neighborhood Map" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. July 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  12. ↑ "Guest Services". Cambridgeside Galleria. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
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