Boston College (MBTA station)

BOSTON COLLEGE
Inbound train at Boston College station in 2011
Location	Commonwealth Avenue at Lake Street Boston and Newton, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°20′24.3″N 71°10′1.2″W / 42.340083°N 71.167000°W / 42.340083; -71.167000Coordinates: 42°20′24.3″N 71°10′1.2″W / 42.340083°N 71.167000°W / 42.340083; -71.167000
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Green Line "B" Branch
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	1896
Rebuilt	c. 1916, 1930, 2009
Previous names	Lake Street (until 1947)
Traffic
Passengers (2011)	1,136 (weekday inbound boardings)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Terminus Green Line "B" Branch South Street toward Park Street

Boston College station is a light rail station on the MBTA Green Line "B" Branch, located at St Ignatius Square on the Boston College campus in Brighton, Boston, near the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Lake Street. Originally opened in 1896, it has been the terminus of the Commonwealth Avenue line since 1900. The current station is planned to be replaced by a new station located in the median of Commonwealth Avenue just east of Lake Street.

On August 15, 1896, the Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) added tracks on newly constructed Commonwealth Avenue from the Newton town line east to Chestnut Hill Avenue, where they were connected to the existing Beacon Street Line at Cleveland Circle. Except for rights to the Watertown Line inherited from the West End Street Railway, the BERy did not have operating rights in Newton. Instead, the Commonwealth Avenue Street Railway was built westward on the wide median of Commonwealth Avenue to Auburndale in 1895. It was soon taken over and operated by the Middlesex and Boston Street Railway (M&B). The two lines met at Lake Street station on the town line.

BERy cars from Lake Street began running into the Tremont Street Subway via Beacon Street when the subway opened on September 1, 1897. On May 26, 1900, tracks on Commonwealth Avenue were completed from Chestnut Hill Avenue to Packards Corner, at which point Lake Street became the terminus of the Commonwealth Avenue line, which also ran into the subway. Except for occasional service disruptions due to track work or blockages on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston College has been the terminus of the Commonwealth Avenue line ("B" Branch) since 1900.