Orient Heights (MBTA station)

ORIENT HEIGHTS
The newly reopened station in November 2013
Location	1000 Bennington Street East Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°23′14″N 71°00′15″W / 42.3871°N 71.0042°W / 42.3871; -71.0042Coordinates: 42°23′14″N 71°00′15″W / 42.3871°N 71.0042°W / 42.3871; -71.0042
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Blue Line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Parking	434 spaces ($5.00 fee) 2 accessible spaces
Bicycle facilities	8 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	1875 (BRB&L) January 5, 1952 (rapid transit)
Closed	1940 (BRB&L)
Rebuilt	March 23 - November 26, 2013
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	2,833 (weekday average boardings; may be affected by 2013 closure)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Wood Island toward Bowdoin Blue Line Suffolk Downs toward Wonderland

Orient Heights is a rapid transit station on the MBTA Blue Line located off Bennington Street in East Boston, Massachusetts. Formerly a Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad station under various names from 1875 to 1940, it reopened in 1952. The 1952-built station was closed in March 2013 for a complete rebuilding to provide full handicapped accessibility and reopened on November 26, 2013.

Orient Heights station is the primary rapid transit connection for the Orient Heights neighborhood of East Boston, as well as for Winthrop. It also serves as a bus transfer station, with three routes connecting Winthrop and Orient Heights. Orient Heights Yard, the main Blue Line yard, branches off the main line just north of the station. Because of the proximity, Blue Line employees report to work at Orient Heights station.

The narrow gauge Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad (BRB&L) opened from East Boston to Lynn on July 29, 1875. The BRB&L opened with Orient station, located north of the intersection of Bennington and Saratoga Street. It was soon replaced with Winthrop station located closer to Saratoga Street.

The station was renamed as Winthrop Junction in 1877 when the Boston, Winthrop, and Point Shirley Railroad opened to Winthrop Center, and again as Orient Heights in April 1892. The station was the transfer point between the main line and the Winthrop Center branch during its short operation from 1877 to 1885, and between the main line and the Winthrop Loop after the latter's 1888 opening.

By 1928 the line was electrified, with pre-pay stations - more a rapid transit line than a conventional railroad. However, due to the Great Depression, the BRB&L shut down on January 27, 1940.

In 1941, the Boston Elevated Railway bought the BRB&L right of way from Day Square to Revere Beach for use as a high-speed trolley line similar to the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line; these plans were delayed by the onset of World War II. However, the 1926 Report on Improved Transportation Facilities and 1945–47 Coolidge Commission Report recommended that the East Boston Tunnel line, which had been converted to rapid transit from streetcars in 1924, be extended to Lynn via the BBRB&L route rather than using it for a trolley line.