Opening The
Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) opened its Cambridge Subway from
Park Street Under to
Harvard on March 23, 1912. The line ran in the median of the Longfellow Bridge to cross the Charles River. Like the
Lechmere extension opened the same year and the
Boylston Street subway opened in 1914, the Cambridge Subway originally had no station serving the area just outside downtown Boston, to speed travel time from farther stations. Although
Bowdoin opened on an extension of the
East Boston Tunnel in 1916, much of the
West End and
Beacon Hill neighborhoods were poorly served by the subway system. On June 2, 1924, the
Massachusetts General Court passed legislation authorizing the state Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to construct an
infill station at Charles Street. Following a 1924 study by the Boston Transit Department (BTD), the DPU delegated the project to the BTD on January 12, 1925. That study also considered an extension of the East Boston Tunnel to Charles Street to provide a transfer between the lines. The project stalled in 1926 as the $600,000 appropriated by the legislature was only sufficient for four-car platforms, while the BERy insisted on six-car platforms at a cost of $850,000 to accommodate its future plans. Despite pressure from the
Massachusetts General Hospital, located adjacent to the proposed station site, the legislature again refused additional funding in 1927. Uncertainty over whether the station would be built delayed plans to construct a
traffic circle at the intersection. No further progress was made until 1930, when the BERy and BTD reached an agreement for a $350,000 station with four-car platforms. The cost reduction was achieved by having the platforms on the straight track west of Charles Street, rather than the curve to the east. Plans for the station were completed in July 1930. Bidding on the station opened in early July 1931, and a construction contract was awarded later that month. Charles Circle was completed in November 1931, by which time the steel structure of the station was in place in the center of the traffic circle.
Charles station opened on February 27, 1932. The station was served by
Bowdoin Square–
Park Square and Charles station–
Massachusetts station bus routes, though a
Kendall Square–Bowdoin Square route was closed with the station's opening. Charles station was designed by H. Parker from the office of
Richard Clipston Sturgis. Only the north half of the underpass was originally planned; public pressure resulted in the addition of the south half. A 14-story Art Deco tower over the station, designed by H. F. Kellogg, was proposed but never built.
Modifications and the MBTA In 1961, the pedestrian underpass was replaced by a pair of footbridges, with the south footbridge forked to reach both sides of Charles Street. The second story was modified to serve as a fare mezzanine, with a low ceiling under the trackway. Openings were cut in the walls to accommodate the footbridges. On January 13, 1961, the MTA began operating "
modified express service" on the line during the morning rush hour, following the introduction of similar service on the
Forest Hills–Everett line the month before. Every other train bypassed Charles and three other stations. This was discontinued in September 1961 to reduce wait times at the skipped stations, most of which were outdoors. In 1964, the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) replaced the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which had replaced the BERy in 1947. The MBTA designated the line as the
Red Line in 1965. In 1982, the platforms were extended west to allow for use of six-car trains, which began operation in 1988. Temporary staircases directly to the platforms were opened in May 2004. The pedestrian bridges were removed, and the original headhouses were demolished in July 2004. The new glass headhouse was built slightly to the east of the former headhouse location. The new entrance opened on February 17, 2007, making the station fully
accessible. The renovations made the station no longer eligible for National Register inclusion. Project design was placed on hold in July 2024 at 30% completion pending funding for construction. The MBTA also plans to address excessive vertical gap between train cars and the station platforms.
Proposed Blue Line connection The
Red Blue Connector is a proposed extension of the
Blue Line from west under Cambridge Street, providing a direct transfer between the Red and Blue lines. The project was first proposed in 1924, and was returned to consideration in the 1978 update to the Program for Mass Transportation. In 1991, the state agreed to build a set of transit projects as part of an agreement with the
Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), which had threatened a lawsuit over auto emissions from the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (
Big Dig). Among the projects was the Red Blue Connector, to be completed by 2011. This commitment was changed to design only in 2007–08 and lifted entirely in 2015. Original plans for the connector in 1986 called for a
cut-and-cover tunnel extension west from Bowdoin, with an underground stub-end terminal connected to the existing Charles/MGH station. Three configurations for the Blue Line level at Charles/MGH were considered: a three-track terminal with two
island platforms, a two-track terminal with one island platform and
pocket tracks to the east, and a three-track terminal with one island platform (one track not used for passenger service) and pocket tracks to the east. The 2010 Draft Environmental Impact Report instead called for a pair of deeper tunnels bored by a
tunnel boring machine (TBM); the Charles/MGH terminal would have a single island platform with
tail tracks extended to the west. A 2018 update which analyzed multiple tunneling methods maintained this station configuration. In April 2019, the MBTA indicated plans to spend $15 million to design the connector in a five-year spending plan. In April 2021, MGH released the Draft Project Impact Report for their expansion plans, which include space reserved for a new headhouse on the north side of Cambridge Street near North Anderson Street. MBTA conceptual designs created in 2020 and released in 2021 also maintained the station configuration, with the new MGH entrance incorporated. Potential designs not chosen included one with a below-grade fare mezzanine for both lines, and one with the Blue Line platform located on the north side of Charles Circle. Construction was planned to last from 2025 to 2030. ==References==