Tunnel Turned Into Safety Training Facility

This article which appeared in the Metro yesterday says the T will turn an "unused train tunnel and station" into a safety training facility.

http://www.metro.us/boston/local/articl ... y-training

"The Emergency Training Center will enhance the ability of Transit police officers to prepare and respond to situations that pose a threat to the commuting public."

I'm not exactly clear on which tunnel they will be using - can someone clarify??

The article references Oak Street and there is an Oak Street in Chinatown ... this would have to be the old portal near there, no?

This will be at the old Broadway trolley tunnel.

That makes sense; someone mentioned that eons ago in the Broadway Station thread. Broadway has the old platforms there - plenty of room. Can't wait to see when they put the cars in!

The EGE wrote:That makes sense; someone mentioned that eons ago in the Broadway Station thread. Broadway has the old platforms there - plenty of room. Can't wait to see when they put the cars in!

It's cleaner, has working lighting, and has quick access to both the station lobby and Cabot Yard via Foundry St. Much more ideal place to stage drills than the Tremont tunnel.

All the drills have been previously done at the Bowdoin Station on the weekends. This will give them a location where they can do drills anytime of the day or night without interrupting service.

That's an ideal location on the exterior as well. On the north side, they have the protection of the U.S.P.S. Annex which is guarded and not a through way for regular traffic, there's Cabot Yard to the west, and the other end could be blocked by Transit Police easily, giving a nice secluded location for emergency drills with the advantage of utilizing real subway infrastructure.

I've explored this tunnel before and didn't see a station. I didn't know there was even an unused station in there. I assumed the tunnels just went right up to the second level of the Broadway station. Can someone explain this to me?

It's a station that was used briefly for streetcars that is between the Cambridge-Dorchester Line and the street level. Here's a photo of it's inlaid ceramic sign when I was down there.

Thread on Broadway Station. A couple of my modern pictures are at the end.

Work has begun!!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/ck4049/7184509026/

I was by there at some point a little over a week ago and they had a full crew working on it.

Are they really going to tear down the old concrete portal? It was such a neat thing.

The portal should be preserved as a historic structure. There is no compeling need to tear it down. I'm surprised the State Historic Preservation office (SHPPO) permitted this. There are almost no old abandoned portals in Boston still standing. This is a unique, historic structure, and in my opinion it is an outrage that is is being torn down.