Harvard (MBTA station)

HARVARD
Interior of Harvard station, looking down from the secondary fare mezzanine. The outbound platform is to the left, with the inbound platform visible below to the right, and the central atrium visible in the far distance.
Location	1400 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138
Coordinates	42°22′24″N 71°07′09″W / 42.3734°N 71.1193°W / 42.3734; -71.1193Coordinates: 42°22′24″N 71°07′09″W / 42.3734°N 71.1193°W / 42.3734; -71.1193
Owned by	MBTA
Line(s)	Red Line
Platforms	2 Split platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Bicycle facilities	21 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	March 12, 1912
Rebuilt	September 6, 1983
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	23,199 (weekday average boardings)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Porter toward Alewife Red Line Central toward Ashmont or Braintree
Location

Harvard is a rapid transit and bus transfer station on the MBTA Red Line, located at Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The third-busiest MBTA subway station, Harvard averaged 23,199 entries each weekday in 2013, with only Downtown Crossing and South Station handling more passengers. It is also an important transfer point, with subway, bus, and trackless trolley (trolleybus) service all connecting at the station. Five of the fifteen key MBTA bus routes (with possible extended late-night service) stop at the station.

Harvard station is located directly beneath Harvard Square, a transportation, business, and cultural focal point in Cambridge. The Red Line rail platforms lie underneath Massachusetts Avenue just north of the center of the square. Many connecting surface transit routes are served by the Harvard Bus Tunnel, which descends from Mass Ave near Cambridge Street, runs southward under Harvard Square, and then westward under Brattle Street, emerging onto Mount Auburn Street. The primary station entrance leads to a central atrium fare lobby under Harvard Square; there is also a secondary fare lobby for the Red Line toward the north end of the station, with entrances at Church Street and opposite it, near Harvard's Johnston Gate; and an unpaid entrance to the bus tunnel at Brattle Square.

The station opened on March 23, 1912, and was completely rebuilt and relocated in the 1980s. The 1912 original entry structure was first replaced by the Harvard Square Subway Kiosk in 1928, and this later structure is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.