Malden Center (MBTA station)

MALDEN CENTER MALDEN CENTER
Malden Center station viewed from the Commercial Street busway on the east side of the station
Location	Commercial Street at Pleasant Street Malden, Massachusetts 02148
Coordinates	42°25′36″N 71°04′28″W / 42.426715°N 71.074349°W / 42.426715; -71.074349Coordinates: 42°25′36″N 71°04′28″W / 42.426715°N 71.074349°W / 42.426715; -71.074349
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Haverhill Line   Orange Line
Platforms	1 side platform (Haverhill Line) 1 island platform (Orange Line)
Tracks	1 (Haverhill Line) 2 (Orange Line)
Construction
Parking	188 spaces ($6.00 fee) 4 accessible spaces
Bicycle facilities	104 spaces in "Pedal and Park" bicycle cage
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	1A
History
Opened	December 27, 1975 (Orange Line)
Rebuilt	May 1, 1977 (Haverhill Line)
Traffic
Passengers (2012)	102 daily boardings (Haverhill Line)
Passengers (2013)	12,686 daily boardings (Orange Line)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station North Station Terminus Haverhill Line Wyoming Hill toward Haverhill Wellington toward Forest Hills Orange Line Oak Grove Terminus

Malden Center is an intermodal transit station located on an elevated grade above Pleasant Street in downtown Malden, Massachusetts. It serves the rapid transit MBTA Orange Line and the MBTA Commuter Rail Haverhill Line, as well as 13 MBTA Bus routes. The current station opened on December 27, 1975, replacing an older brick station which has since been repurposed as a restaurant.

The Boston and Maine Railroad ran trains to Pearl Street Station, several blocks north of the modern station site, after the line was elevated around 1900. Pearl Street Station remained open as the new elevated station was built.

The new Malden station opened on December 27, 1975, as part of the MBTA's Haymarket North Extension of the Orange Line. Expansion to Malden had been a long-time goal of the Boston Elevated Railway, and the Everett extension of the Charlestown Elevated was originally planned to go past Everett and into Malden and Reading via Main Street. However, residents of Malden were opposed to the elevated railroad structure that was planned, and prevented the extension. The 1975 extension was built along the existing Haverhill Line embankment and was considered less disruptive than a separate, fully elevated railroad would have been.

Pearl Street Station closed simultaneously with the opening of the Orange Line station; the station building is now a restaurant. A high-level platform - the first on the MBTA system - was installed along the Reading Line track, but Reading Line trains did not stop. The platform opened for regular service on May 1, 1977. It was again closed on September 1, 1979 due to low usage. On January 20, 1984, a fire destroyed the approach trestle to the Charles River Bridge at North Station; Haverhill Line trains were run to Oak Grove. North Station reopened on April 20, 1985; the commuter platform at Oak Grove closed but the platform at Malden was reopened.