Brookline Hills station


Brookline Hills is an MBTA light rail station in Brookline, Massachusetts. It serves the Green Line D branch. It is located west of Cypress Street in the Brookline Hills neighborhood. The station has two side platforms serving the line's two tracks.

History

The original Brookline Hills station opened in 1852 on the Highland branch, which at the time was a conventional commuter rail line. After 1886, loop service was run via what is now the Framingham/Worcester Line and later the Needham Line. In March 1892, a new station designed by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge was opened.
The final trains on the line ran on May 31, 1958. The line was converted to light rail by the M.T.A. and Brookline Hills reopened on July 4, 1959, along with the rest of the D branch. The 1892 depot is no longer extant.

Accessibility

In the early 2000s, the MBTA modified key surface stops with raised platforms for accessibility. Brookline Hills was not among those initially outfitted with portable lifts, nor was it retrofitted with raised platforms. However, portable lifts were installed by 2003.
Around 2006, the MBTA added wooden mini-high platforms on both platforms, allowing level boarding on older Type 7 LRVs. These platforms were installed at eleven Green Line stations in 2006–07 as part of the settlement of Joanne Daniels-Finegold, et al. v. MBTA.
The station is being renovated with fully accessible platforms as part of an expansion of Brookline High School, which includes a new school building partially over the eastern end of the platforms. Construction is expected to last from late 2019 to mid-2021.