Government Center (MBTA station)

GOVERNMENT CENTER GOVERNMENT CENTER
Government Center headhouse
Station statistics
Address	Near Boston City Hall at intersection of Tremont, Court and Cambridge Streets, Downtown Boston
Coordinates	42°21′34″N 71°03′34″W
Lines	Blue Line   Green Line (all branches)
Platforms	1 island platform (Blue Line) 1 triangular island platform (Green Line)
Tracks	Blue Line: 2 Green Line: 2 plus non-revenue loop track
Other information
Opened	September 3, 1898 (Green Line) March 18, 1916 (Blue Line)
Owned by	MBTA
Formerly	Scollay (1898–1969)
Traffic
Passengers (1997)	4.182 million  0%
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Park Street toward Boston College Green Line "B" Branch Terminus Park Street toward Riverside Green Line "D" Branch Park Street toward Cleveland Circle Green Line "C" Branch Haymarket toward North Station Park Street toward Heath Street Green Line "E" Branch Haymarket toward Lechmere Bowdoin Terminus Blue Line Weekdays 5:15am-6:30pm State toward Wonderland Terminus Blue Line Evenings, Weekends, and Holidays

Government Center is an MBTA subway station and a transfer point between the Green Line and the Blue Line. It is located at the intersection of Tremont, Court and Cambridge Streets in the Government Center area of Boston.

History

The Scollay Under sign reflected in a Blue Line train

Before the current Boston City Hall was built at its current location, completely replacing old Scollay Square, the station was known as Scollay on the Green Line and Scollay Under on the Blue Line. Years later, when the false walls on both ends of the Blue Line platform were removed to accommodate the change from four- to six-car trains, several surviving mosaic tile "Scollay Under" signs were uncovered, which can be seen on both ends of the platform.

Government Center station was featured in the video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2 in the Boston level.

Congestion and Red-Blue Connector

The Red and Blue Lines are the only pair of rapid transit lines in the MBTA system that lack a direct transfer connection. As of 2011, the Green Line is the most convenient way to transfer between the Blue Line and the Red Line, thus causing the short Green Line segment between Government Center station and nearby Park Street station to be especially congested during peak travel times. This bottleneck, combined with tight platform clearances on the Green Line outbound side, has been the cause of significant delays and crowding on the Green Line. In the past, an underground pedestrian passage had been proposed, paralleling the Green Line tracks and connecting the two stations, but this idea was dropped in favor of a direct transfer connection between the Blue and Red Lines.

It also is possible to transfer between the Red and Blue Lines by traveling one stop on the Orange Line between State and Downtown Crossing stations, but this path involves navigating a longer and more convoluted path through stairs and passages of those stations.

As part of a lawsuit settlement relating to air quality mitigation for the Big Dig highway tunnel project, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts agreed to build a direct transfer connection between the Blue and Red Lines. This would be done by extending the Blue Line beyond Bowdoin station, continuing to run a further 1500 feet (450 m) beneath Cambridge Street to Charles/MGH station on the Red Line. Unlike the historic non-revenue Red/Blue Line connection, there would be no direct rail connection between the lines at Charles/MGH station (the rail gauges are identical, but the Red and Blue Line railcars are otherwise dimensionally incompatible). However, passengers would be able to transfer between the Red and Blue Lines without needing to crowd onto the Green Line, and many passengers from the North Shore of Boston would be able to reach the Massachusetts General Hospital area directly without further transfers.

After failing to take any action for over a decade, and under threat of further lawsuits, the state finally agreed to start detailed engineering design for such an extension, which is ongoing as of 2011. Construction is expected to take 6 years, but a start date and funding scheme have not yet been announced.

Accessibility

See also: MBTA accessibility

As of 2011, Government Center is not wheelchair accessible, with the exception of accessible inbound and outbound transfers on the Blue Line.

Renovation

A renovation that will make the station more accessible and relieve some overcrowding is planned, including rebuilding of the headhouse and installation of elevators. As part of the project, a second headhouse has been proposed on Cambridge Street in the direction of Bowdoin station (the Blue Line terminus), a stop which the MBTA may eventually close. However, Bowdoin is scheduled to remain open during the Government Center station reconstruction.

Currently there are plans to shut Government Center station down for two years, which would save $16 million and shorten the project by 15 months, compared to keeping the station open during construction. Construction is planned to begin in November 2012.

Attractions

• Boston City Hall, seat of the city's government
• John F. Kennedy Federal Building
• Faneuil Hall
• Quincy Market
• Freedom Trail
• Shops and restaurants

Gallery

• 

  A "D" Branch Green line train bound for Riverside station

• 

  A Blue line train arrives at Government Center

• 

  The entrance down to Government Center Station

• 

  Blue Line platform

Further reading

• Belcher, Jonathan, "Remnants of Abandoned Stations, Tunnels, and Station Entrances found on the MBTA" (archived 2007)
• Bierman, Noah, "Transit archeology: Tour of abandoned subway network offers a glimpse of how the T was built", Boston Globe, Saturday, December 26, 2009.
• Cheape, Charles W. (1980). Moving the masses : urban public transport in New York, Boston and Philadelphia, 1880-1912. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674588274. http://books.google.com/books?id=NkDeRf2FKTkC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Cheney, Frank; Sammarco, Anthony Mitchell (2000). When Boston rode the El. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. ISBN 978-0738504629. http://books.google.com/books?id=FXsLiV1aNRUC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Cudahy, Brian J. (1972). Change at Park Street Under; the story of Boston's subways. Brattleboro, Vt.: S. Greene Press. ISBN 978-0828901734. 
• McKendry, Joe (2006). Beneath the streets of Boston: Building America's first subway. Boston: David R. Godine. ISBN 978-1567922844. 

External links

• MBTA Green & Blue Lines -- Government Center Station
• Court Street entrance from Google Maps Street View