MBTA opens first new station in 27 years

Yesterday, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick joined state and local officials in the city of Somerville to mark the opening of the first new Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) station in 27 years.

The new Assembly Orange Line station is a "key element" in creating a transit-oriented development at Assembly Row, and providing a vital transit link between Assembly Row and Boston, MBTA officials said in a press release.

"The new Assembly Orange Line station is a concrete reminder of what can be achieved through public-private partnership and investment in our communities," Patrick said in a prepared statement.

Assembly is the first new MBTA subway station to be opened since the southern portion of the Orange Line was moved from the Washington Street Elevated Line to the Southwest Corridor in 1987. The new station's daily ridership is projected to reach 4,800 to 5,400 by 2030. The $56 million station was funded with federal, state and private dollars.

"Assembly is a modern, fully accessible, environmentally friendly Orange Line station that will serve this blossoming new neighborhood and the city of Somerville well for years to come," said MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott.

The station's sustainable elements include extensive daylighting, storm water retention, and energy-conserving electrical power controls and lighting fixtures. The station features passive solar power design, which allows the building windows, walls and floors to collect, store and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer, without using electricity, agency officials said.

The transit-oriented development will feature more than 2.8 million square feet of office space; 635,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment uses; and 1,813 homes.