Mattapan (MBTA station)

MATTAPAN
A PCC streetcar at Mattapan station in 2016
Location	500 River Street at 1670 Blue Hill Avenue Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°16′03″N 71°05′35″W / 42.26750°N 71.09306°W / 42.26750; -71.09306Coordinates: 42°16′03″N 71°05′35″W / 42.26750°N 71.09306°W / 42.26750; -71.09306
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Red Line– Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line
Platforms	1 side platform (deboarding) 1 island platform (boarding)
Tracks	1 track on balloon loop; splits to 2 tracks for inbound boarding platform
Construction
Parking	100 spaces ($4.00 daily) 4 accessible spaces
Bicycle facilities	8 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	December 21, 1929
Rebuilt	December 22, 2007
Traffic
Passengers (2010)	1,504 (daily boardings)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Capen Street toward Ashmont Red Line Mattapan High Speed Line Terminus

Mattapan is the southern terminus of the Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line, located at Mattapan Square in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. At the station, trolleys use a balloon loop to reverse direction back to Ashmont. Mattapan is also an important bus transfer station, with ten routes terminating there.

Mattapan station is fully handicapped accessible, with mini-high platforms for boarding trolleys.

The Ashmont–Mattapan Line follows the right-of-way of the Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad, which opened to Mattapan in December 1847. The line was converted to an interurban-style trolley line in the 1920s, with the final section to Mattapan opening on December 21, 1929. The stone depot building, now a restaurant, stands adjacent in Mattapan Square.

The MBTA closed the line on June 24, 2006 to allow a new viaduct to be constructed at Ashmont station. During the closure, all stations on the line were modernized and (except for Valley Road) made handicapped accessible. The decrepit 1929-built shelter and old platforms were replaced by modern platforms with canopies; a new building for MBTA police and bus operations with a community room was built. Trolley service resumed on December 22, 2007.

In 2014, the MBTA proposed to make $500,000 in additional renovations to the station. These included upgraded shelters and heating in passenger waiting areas, pedestrian improvements, improved signage, and bicycle storage.

As part of the first round of modernization, the MBTA began planning for mixed-use transit-oriented development (TOD) to be built on the underused station parking lot. The planned development was not built, even after a second request for proposals was issued in 2012.

In July 2014, a local charter school announced plans to build a new building on the site, despite calls for a third RFP to be issued to attract TOD instead. In January 2015, after opposition from local officials about the school's $1.5 million offer, the MBTA announced it would instead issue a third RFP that March. The third RFP was issued in November 2015.