Early history

There has been a railroad station at Porter Square since the Fitchburg Railroad began operations in the early 1840s.^[6] The first station, built in 1843–1845, was called Porter's Station.^[7] A new station building was constructed in 1854.^[8] Later stations at the site were known as North Cambridge, then later simply as Cambridge.^[9] In 1869, the original station was moved to the North Avenue (now Massachusetts Avenue) bridge over the tracks.^[7]

B&M era

A new station was built in 1897, slightly to the southeast, behind the Lovell Block. In 1927, the Fitchburg Cutoff became freight-only between the Alewife area and Somerville Junction. Passenger trains from the Lexington Branch and the Central Massachusetts Railroad were diverted to the Fitchburg mainline and began to stop at Cambridge station.^[10] In 1937–38, the Boston and Maine Railroad built a two-story brick depot by the bridge, with the ticket office at street level and the waiting room and platforms below.^[11] The new station opened on May 2, 1938; the old station was demolished to make room for a parking lot for the adjacent Sears, Roebuck and Company store.^[12] As passenger traffic declined, the B&M sold and leased disused station buildings; the Cambridge station was converted to office use by 1968.^[13]

MBTA era

By the time the newly formed Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) began subsidizing northside commuter rail operations in the late 1960s, both the Lexington Branch and the Central Mass Branch had been reduced to single rush hour round trips on poorly maintained track. The South Sudbury run on the Central Mass was terminated on November 26, 1971.^[1] The Bedford round trip on the Lexington Branch ended after a major snowstorm on January 10, 1977, leaving the Fitchburg Line (with multiple daily round trips) as the only rail service at Cambridge station.^[1]

Adding the Red Line

In the late 1970s, Cambridge station was renamed to Porter when it became certain that the Red Line Northwest Extension would include a stop there. ("Cambridge", while sufficient for a commuter rail station, would have been confusing for a rapid transit station, because the Red Line has multiple stations—five in total—in the City of Cambridge.) The Red Line platforms were built in a deep-bore tunnel, while the commuter platform was rebuilt with an accessible mini-high platform. During construction, commuter trains were accessed via a staircase from Somerville Avenue.^[14] On September 30, 1980, construction worker Paul Leone was killed when a retaining wall collapsed.^[15]

A new glass and concrete headhouse was built around 1982, and the complete new transfer station opened on December 8, 1984, along with Davis.^[1][11] The new station, designed by Cambridge Seven Associates, won awards from the American Institute of Architects and the American Consulting Engineering Council of New England.^[5] Porter and Davis were the first MBTA stations made accessible during initial construction, rather than by renovation.^[16][17] A second entrance on the west side of Massachusetts Avenue was added in the late 1980s.^[18]

Because of its Red Line connection, Porter Square can serve as a temporary inbound terminus for the Fitchburg Line service when commuter rail service is disrupted between Porter and Boston's North Station. It served this role during the 2004 Democratic National Convention, when North Station was closed for a week for security purposes, and during Green Line Extension construction in 2015 and 2019–20.^[1][19] The staircase from Somerville Avenue was removed in 2020 during retaining wall reconstruction; a new staircase may be added later.^[20]

An extension of the Union Square Branch of the Green Line Extension from Union Square to Porter has been proposed by local officials.^[21]

Accessibility

Porter is fully accessible; elevators lead from street level to the mezzanine with its accessible bathrooms, to the commuter rail platform, and to both Red Line platform levels. Although most of the commuter platform is low, there is a "mini-high platform" – a one-car-length high section – that allows level boarding.

The station was originally built with three elevators: from Elm Street to the fare lobby, from the lobby to both Red Line platforms, and from the lobby to the commuter rail platform.^[27] The MBTA installed additional elevators at Porter and four other busy MBTA subway stations as part of the settlement of Joanne Daniels-Finegold, et al. v. MBTA.^[28][22] The three existing elevators were overhauled, and two redundant elevators were added, in a $12 million project.^[27]

The elevator to the Red Line platforms was out of service for construction from March 21, 2011, to June 22, 2012; an accessible shuttle bus ran between Porter and Davis.^[22][27] The elevator to the commuter rail platform was also taken out of service from December 9, 2011, to July 2012; a shuttle bus ran between Harvard, Porter, and Waltham.^[29] An elevator from Massachusetts Avenue to the lobby opened later that year, followed by an overhaul of the existing street elevator; the redundant Red Line platform elevator was completed in 2013.^[27]