East Everett station The freight-only
Grand Junction Railroad opened through
Everett and
Chelsea in 1852 to serve the
East Boston docks. On April 10, 1854, the
Eastern Railroad opened a line from
Revere to Boston, with
trackage rights over the Grand Junction from Chelsea to
Somerville. This replaced the Eastern's 1838-built
mainline from Revere to East Boston – which required a ferry connection to reach downtown Boston – as the railroad's primary Boston entry. In 1868, the Eastern built its own tracks on the north side of the Grand Junction tracks. The Eastern Railroad was acquired by the
Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) in 1885. The building was demolished around 1933. The stop was served by only one weekday-only round trip by 1946, and was abandoned entirely by 1952. The remaining local stops on the line south of
Lynn were closed in 1958. The
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) began subsidizing remaining B&M service on the line in 1965; it became the
Newburyport/Rockport Line of the
MBTA Commuter Rail system. The Grand Junction tracks in Chelsea were largely unused after the
Chelsea Creek bridge burned in 1955. In 2002,
CSX Transportation began the process of abandoning the Grand Junction from 2nd Street through Chelsea to East Boston; the proceedings were delayed by negotiations with the city of Chelsea to acquire the
right-of-way.
MBTA station Mystic Mall was a proposed stop on the
Urban Ring Project – a planned circumferential
bus rapid transit (BRT) line designed to connect the current radial MBTA rail lines. Under draft plans released in 2008, a dedicated busway was to be built using the disused Grand Junction right-of-way, paralleling the active commuter rail tracks through Everett and Chelsea. Buses would have left the busway to access new surface-level BRT platforms on Everett Street and Spruce Street. The
Chelsea commuter rail station would have been rebuilt at its existing site. The project was shelved in January 2010 due to high costs. That June, the
Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) purchased the disused Grand Junction right-of-way from 2nd Street to East Boston, to be
land banked for future transportation use. A 2011 state study analyzed potential Chelsea transit improvements, including a
Silver Line branch or improvements to the route bus. The Silver Line alternatives terminated at the Chelsea commuter rail station or
Bellingham Square and did not serve the Mystic Mall area. In March 2013, the MBTA began studying a possible extension of the Silver Line to Chelsea via a newly constructed bypass road in East Boston. Three alternatives were discussed for the Chelsea section. One would run up the disused section of the Grand Junction Railroad right-of-way from Eastern Avenue to Chelsea station with stops at ,
Highland/Box District, the existing Chelsea station, and Mystic Mall. The second alignment would follow the Grand Junction to just short of Bellingham Square, then diverge onto surface roads to the square. The third alignment would run largely on surface streets, serving two stops on Central Avenue and four stops along a loop serving the existing Chelsea station and the MGH Chelsea healthcare center near Mystic Mall. In September 2013, the MBTA indicated that it would pursue the first alternative despite potential issues with bridge clearances and rebuilding Chelsea station. On October 30, 2013, MassDOT announced $82.5 million in state funding for construction of a modified version of the first alternative. A new $20 million Chelsea commuter rail station would be constructed at the Mystic Mall busway terminus to replace the existing station. This new station would make the commuter rail station fully accessible, with longer platforms so that trains would not block grade crossings while stopped. The Silver Line would have a new
Bellingham Square stop at the old commuter rail station location. Service was expected to begin in late 2015. The Environmental Impact Report was issued in March 2014. A $33.8 million construction contract was approved in September 2014, and construction began in March 2015. By June 2017, opening had been pushed back to April 2018. Silver Line service to Chelsea on the SL3 route began on April 21, 2018. The MBTA opened bidding for the contract to construct the new commuter rail station (which also includes installation of several nearby traffic signals and demolition of the existing station) in February 2019, with an expected cost of $26.7 million. A $32.4 million contract was awarded in April 2019, with completion then expected in late 2021. Construction of the project (which has a total cost of $37.7 million) began in August 2019. The supports for the outbound platform were completed by April 2020, and the platforms were installed that August. The station reached 70% completion in March 2021. It opened on November 15, 2021, replacing the commuter rail platforms at Bellingham Square (which remains a Silver Line stop). A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on December 15. Service on the inner portion of the Newburyport/Rockport Line was suspended for several periods in March–September 2022 to accommodate signal work on the line. The
Encore Boston Harbor casino ran shuttles to Chelsea station from the casino's June 2019 opening until July 2024. == References ==