Harvard (MBTA station)

HARVARD
Interior of Harvard station
Station statistics
Address	1400 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138
Coordinates	42°22′24″N 71°07′09″W
Lines	Red Line
Platforms	2 split platforms
Tracks	2
Bicycle facilities	21 spaces
Other information
Opened	March 12, 1912
Rebuilt	September 6, 1983
Accessible
Owned by	MBTA
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Porter toward Alewife Red Line Central toward Ashmont or Braintree

Harvard is a station on the Red Line of the MBTA subway system in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The third-busiest MBTA subway station, Harvard saw 21,868 entries each weekday in 2010, with only Downtown Crossing and South Station being busier. It is also an important transfer point, with subway, bus, and trackless trolley service all serving the station.

Location

Harvard station is located directly beneath Harvard Square, a focal point in Cambridge. Specifically, it lies underneath Massachusetts Avenue near its intersection with Cambridge and Garden Streets. Harvard University is by far the biggest attraction, with Harvard Yard, the Harvard Art Museums, the Semitic Museum, and the Museum of Natural History just a short walk away. Other important academic institutions include the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge Public Library, Lesley College, the Longy School of Music, the Episcopal Divinity School, and Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.

Nearby destinations

• American Repertory Theater
• Cooper-Frost-Austin House
• Hooper-Lee-Nichols House
• Longfellow National Historic Site

History

It opened on March 23, 1912 and was rebuilt in the 1980s. The Harvard Bus Tunnel also opened in 1912, originally serving streetcars but now buses and trackless trolleys. A kiosk was added in 1928, and is now listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places. The station's northbound platform is above the station's southbound platform, making it one of four stations in the MBTA system to have bi-level platforms.

Former stations

There have been a total of five stations on the Red Line in and around Harvard Square. The former Harvard station was located just east of the current station, and some remains exist. It opened March 23, 1912 and closed January 30, 1981.

The lead tracks to Eliot Yard (since demolished) curved under Harvard Square and Brattle Street with a portal south of Bennett Street. The tunnel is still in place underground and used for MBTA storage, but the aboveground section has been demolished save for one stone marked by the Boston Elevated Railway.

Stadium station was located at surface level in Eliot Yard, west of the corner of what is now JFK Street and Memorial Drive. It was not open for regular use and did not have fare gates; instead, employees collected fares. It opened on October 26, 1912 and the last known use was on November 18, 1967.

During the construction of the current Harvard station, two temporary stations were built. Harvard/Brattle, built of pressure-treated wood, consisted of two platforms between three tracks just outside the portal. It was open from March 24, 1979 to September 1, 1983.

Harvard/Holyoke is located in the main Red Line tunnel east of the current station, at Massachusetts Avenue and Holyoke Street. Although it was for inbound passengers only, the station was fully built with tile walls and other details. It was open from January 31, 1981 to September 1, 1983. The platform is visible from inbound Red Line trains.

Future

As a vital interchange station, Harvard is a proposed stop on the MBTA's planned Urban Ring Project. The Urban Ring will be a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line designed to connect the current MBTA Lines to reduce strain on the downtown stations.

Station layout

One of the most complex subway stations of the MBTA system, Harvard has two side platforms built on two levels, with outbound trains running on the upper level and inbound trains on the lower level. Above the subway station is the Harvard Bus Tunnel, which offers passengers connections within the paid area to buses and trackless trolleys. Like all other Red Line stations apart from Wollaston, Harvard is handicapped-accessible.

Public artwork

Main article: Arts on the Line

As a part of the Red Line Northwest Extension, Harvard was included as one of the stations involved in the Arts on the Line program. Arts on the Line was devised to bring art into the MBTA's subway stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was the first program of its kind in the United States and became the model for similar drives for art across the country.

Four of the original twenty artworks are located at Harvard station. These works are:

• Gateway to Knowledge by Anne Norton - A 20 foot 6 inch high brick structure divided vertically down the center by a gap but still attached at the top. One half is slightly forward of the other. (located in Brattle Square)
• New England Decorative Art by Joyce Kozloff - An 83 foot long mosaic split up into 8 sections, each resembling a quilt.
• Omphalos by Dimitri Hadzi - A grouping of pillars holding up various shapes that intersect at odd angles. Many different types and polishes of granite are used.
• Blue Sky on the Red Line by György Kepes - A large stained glass wall composed of mostly blue glass with the exception of a red band that runs the length of the work.

Bus connections

Harvard Square bus tunnel, upper level.

In the Harvard Bus Tunnel:

• 71 Watertown Square via Mt. Auburn St. (Trolleybus, loads lower level except Sunday)
• 72 Huron Ave. via Concord Ave. (Trolleybus, loads upper level)
• 73 Waverley Sq. via Trapelo Road (Trolleybus, loads lower level except Sunday)
• 74 Belmont Center via Concord Ave. (loads upper level)
• 75 Belmont Center via Concord Ave. (loads upper level)
• 77 Arlington Heights via Massachusetts Ave. (loads upper level)
• 77A North Cambridge via Massachusetts Ave. (Trolleybus, loads upper level)
• 78 Arlmont Village via Park Circle (loads upper level)
• 86 Sullivan Sq. Sta. - Reservoir (Cleveland Circle) via Harvard (loads upper level)
• 96 Medford Sq. via George St. & Davis Sq. Sta. (loads upper level)

Harvard Station entrance

On street level (outside of the underground bus terminal):

• 1 Dudley Station via Massachusetts Ave. & B.U. Medical Center
• 66 Dudley Station via Allston & Brookline Village
• 68 Kendall/M.I.T. via Broadway
• 69 Lechmere Sta. via Cambridge St.

Gallery

• 

  Harvard Bus Tunnel

• 

  The outbound platform is above the inbound platform

• 

  Harvard Square entrance

• 

  Outbound Red Line platform

External links

• Harvard Square Station website
• Church Street entrance (north) from Google Maps Street View
• Brattle Street entrance (south) from Google Maps Street View