South Station History
South Station is an iconic Boston building, with its original façade harkening back to the history that makes our city what it is today. South Station was first constructed in 1899 and soon became the busiest railroad station in America.
Following a nationwide decline of railroad use, South Station experienced a deterioration in use, service and condition. In 1965, The New Haven Railroad Company sold South Station to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (or BRA, now known as the Boston Planning & Development Agency, BPDA) due to financial troubles. Much of the station building was unused and in derelict condition.
In 1979, the BRA sold South Station to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). The terms of this sale gave the MBTA ownership of South Station with the intent of transforming it into an intermodal transportation center containing bus, rail and subway connections, while BPDA would retain air rights above the station for future non-transportation development.
“When completed, the South Station Transportation Center will be one of the most successful and talked about transportation developments in the nation and will serve as a model for other intermodal facilities.”
Progress on the South Station Transportation Center began in 1984 with the addition of new rail, the construction of a new concourse, and the creation of a Red Line connection. Foundations were placed between the tracks to support future construction in the air rights above. In 1995, a bus terminal was constructed containing 23 berths and 223 parking spaces. These improvements constitute the existing conditions of the South Station Transportation Center; an improvement from its 1965 condition, but short of becoming a landmark intermodal facility.
The South Station Air Rights Project will see the completion of the long-awaited intermodal transportation center, and the continuation of South Station’s history of being a regional transportation hub and destination.