Heath Street (MBTA station)

HEATH STREET
Turnaround
Station statistics
Address	Heath Street at VA Hospital, Mission Hill, Massachusetts 02130
Lines	Green Line "E" branch
Platforms	2 side platform
Tracks	2 (on a balloon loop)
Other information
Accessible
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Terminus Green Line "E" Branch Back of the Hill toward Lechmere

Heath Street, announced as Heath Street/VA Medical Center, is the last stop of the MBTA Green Line's E branch located along South Huntington Avenue on the Mission Hill/Jamaica Plain neighborhood line of Boston, Massachusetts. The scheduled travel time to Park Street from Heath Street is about 22 minutes.

Controversy

Train service originally ran on the E Line beyond Heath Street to Arborway, along Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, but service was "temporarily" replaced in 1985 by the number 39 bus. Pursuant to environmental mitigation commitments made by the state regarding the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (Big Dig), service south of Heath Street was supposed to resume as soon as the tracks and overhead wires were reconstructed and a sufficient number of low-floor streetcars were available to operate the service. In January 2005, the Conservation Law Foundation filed suit in federal court to enforce the agreement. The MBTA requested dismissal of the suit, but in March 2006 the judge ruled that the case should proceed. However, the MBTA backed out of this commitment due to a lack of funding; overhead wires and trackage between Heath Street and Forest Hills / Arborway station were removed and paved over by 2008. In 2011, the last lawsuit requiring restoration was dismissed, thus likely leaving Arborway line abandoned for years to come.

Bus connections

• 14 Roslindale Sq. via Dudley Sta., Grove Hall & American Legion Hwy.
• 39 Forest Hills Sta. - Back Bay Sta. via Huntington Ave.

The previous special transfer policy between the Green Line and #39 bus was terminated on January 1, 2007. Since that date, all subway-to-local bus and local bus-to-subway transfers have cost $1.70 with the use of a CharlieCard (plastic). This transfer connection must be completed within 2 hours of the first swipe. Passengers are charged a total of $1.70 on their Charlie Card for the two combined modes of travel. Passengers paying in cash or using a CharlieTicket (paper) do not receive the discounted $1.70 rate for both modes of travel. Instead, they pay one full subway fare ($2.00) plus one local bus fare ($1.50), for a total of $3.50.

Accessibility

The station is accessible when served by the MBTA's newer low-floor trolley cars and buses. See MBTA accessibility.

Nearby destinations

• Veterans Administration Hospital
• MSPCA-Angell Animal Medical Center
• Hyde Square, Jamaica Plain
• Olmsted Park
• Nira Rock Urban Wilds

External links

• MBTA Green Line -- Heath Street Station
• Huntington Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Station from Heath Street from Google Maps Street View