Beaconsfield is an MBTA light rail station in Brookline, Massachusetts. It serves the Green Line D branch. It is located off Dean Road and Beaconsfield Road just south of Beacon Street. Like the other stops on the line, it was formerly a commuter rail station on the Boston and Albany Railroad's Highland branch, which was closed and converted to a branch of the Green Line. The station reopened along with the rest of the line in 1959.[1]

Beaconsfield
Facing inbound at Beaconsfield station in November 2015
General information
Location	Beaconsfield Road Brookline, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°20′09″N 71°08′26″W
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Highland branch
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Parking	11 spaces
Bicycle facilities	8 spaces
Disabled access	No
History
Opened	1907 (original station) July 4, 1959 (modern station)[1]
Closed	May 31, 1958[2]
Passengers
2011	1,075[3]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station Reservoir toward Riverside Green Line D branch Brookline Hills toward Union Square
Former services Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station Reservoir toward Riverside Highland branch Brookline Hills toward Boston

Beaconsfield is not handicapped accessible; the low platforms do not permit level boarding. Beaconsfield station is located one block from Dean Road station on the C branch of the Green Line, offering an easy transfer point. The interchange is outside of fare control; passengers must still pay a second fare.

History

B&A station

The Boston and Worcester Railroad opened a 1.4-mile (2.3 km) branch from Brookline Junction to Brookline on April 10, 1848.[2] The Charles River Branch Railroad extended the Brookline branch to Newton Upper Falls in November 1852 and to Needham in June 1853.[2][4] The Boston and Albany Railroad bought back the line, then part of the New York and New England Railroad, in February 1883. It was double-tracked and extended to the B&A main at Riverside; "Newton Circuit" service via the Highland branch and the main line began on May 16, 1886.[2]

There was not originally a station on the line at Dean Road, as it was close to Reservoir station. In late 1906, transit magnate Henry Melville Whitney built a new station to serve his nearby Beaconsfield hotel.[5] Work on the station began in October 1906 by the firm of Benjamin Fox. It was constructed in a heavy stone style similar to the Richardsonian Romanesque stations constructed elsewhere on the B&A system in the previous two decades.[6] By November, the masonry was largely complete, the roof ready for tile, and the granolithic floor and 330-foot (100 m) platform ready to be poured.[7] The platform was poured in December 1906, and the station was opened then or soon after.[8]

Conversion to streetcar service

In June 1957, the Massachusetts Legislature approved the purchase of the branch by the M.T.A. from the nearly-bankrupt New York Central Railroad for conversion to a trolley line. Service ended on May 31, 1958.[2] The line was quickly converted for trolley service, and the line including Beaconsfield station reopened on July 4, 1959.[1] The 1906-built station was torn down to build a parking lot; a small wooden shelter was built on the inbound platform.

The M.T.A. was folded into the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in August 1964.[1] The station has not been substantially modified during the MBTA era, though a heated shelter for fare machines on the outbound side was added around 2006.

In 2019, the MBTA indicated that the four remaining non-accessible stops on the D branch were "Tier I" accessibility priorities.[9] A preliminary design contract for accessibility modifications at the four stations was issued in February 2021.[10][11] Design reached 75% in June 2022. The station platforms will be raised and rebuilt, the wood shelter repaired, and a path constructed under Dean Road to Waldstein Playground. Construction is expected to last from early 2023 to early 2024.[12]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Beaconsfield station (MBTA).

• MBTA - Beaconsfield
• Dean Street entrance from Google Maps Street View