Tufts Medical Center (MBTA station)

TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER
Tufts Medical Center station viewed from the mezzanine, looking outbound
Location	750 Washington Street Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°20′55″N 71°03′52″W / 42.3486°N 71.0645°W / 42.3486; -71.0645Coordinates: 42°20′55″N 71°03′52″W / 42.3486°N 71.0645°W / 42.3486; -71.0645
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Orange Line   Silver Line SL4, SL5
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	May 4, 1987 (Orange Line) July 30, 2002 (Silver Line)
Previous names	New England Medical Center (1987-2010)
Traffic
Passengers (2013 daily)	6,106
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Back Bay toward Forest Hills Orange Line Chinatown toward Oak Grove Herald Street toward Dudley Square Silver Line SL4 Chinatown toward South Station South Station One-way operation Silver Line SL5 Chinatown toward Downtown Crossing Boylston One-way operation
Location

Tufts Medical Center is a rapid transit station on the MBTA Orange Line subway and Silver Line bus rapid transit system. It is named for the Tufts Medical Center and is built under a wing of the facility that crosses over Washington Street in downtown Boston between Kneeland Street in Chinatown and the Massachusetts Turnpike.

The underground Orange Line station consists of two side platforms serving the line's two tracks, while Silver Line buses stop along the sidewalks on the surface next to the station entrance on Washington Street. A secondary entrance is available on Tremont Street one block to the west. Like all Orange Line stations, Tufts Medical Center is fully wheelchair accessible.

In September 1968, the MBTA began construction of the shell of the station - then called South Cove Station - and the South Cove Tunnel during what were to be the early stages of the abandoned Interstate 695 project, in anticipation of the future relocation of the Washington Street Elevated. The relocated Orange Line was to run in the median of the extended I-95 in the Southwest Corridor, then replace service on the Needham Line to Needham. Due to a lack of available federal monies, the MBTA financed the $13.3 million project with local bond funds. The tunnel (which reached to Marginal Street) and the station shell were completed in 1972. However, I-695 was cancelled due to local opposition in 1971; the Elevated remained in service, and the South Cove Tunnel and station sat unused.

After the plans for I-95 to be extended into downtown fell through in 1973, the state began looking to use the Southwest Corridor for a combined Orange Line and commuter rail corridor. In 1975, the MBTA applied for $29 million in federal grants to extend the South Cove Tunnel to just past Arlington Street and to finish the interior of South Cove station. Construction began in earnest on the Southwest Corridor in 1979. New England Medical Center station opened on May 4, 1987, along with eight other stations from Back Bay to Forest Hills.