After the opening of the Charlestown Bridge in 1901 and the East Boston Tunnel in 1904, Boston and Maine railroad stations in Everett and Chelsea lost ridership to slower but more frequent streetcar service. On April 18, 1958, the Boston and Maine Railroad received permission from the Public Utilities Commission to drastically curtail its suburban commuter service, including abandoning branches, closing stations, and cutting trains. Among the approved cuts was the closure of all Eastern Division service south of Lynn, including the entirety of the Saugus Branch, plus mainline stations at East Somerville, Everett, Chelsea, and Forbes. These areas were largely within the Metropolitan Transit Authority bus service area, acquired from the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway in 1936. The Saugus Branch and mainline stations were closed on May 16, 1958. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the newly formed MBTA reopened several inner-suburb commuter rail stations in response to community desire for service that was faster if less frequent than buses. In 1976, Chelsea station was considered for reactivation, but ridership was expected to be relatively small due to the nearby and buses. On September 4, 1985, the MBTA Board awarded a $412,000 contract to construct a new station at Chelsea. The station opened on December 1, 1985, concurrent with the restoration of regular service on the Rockport/Ipswich Line following the 1984 fire that destroyed the Beverly Draw. It was one of the last non-accessible stations opened by the MBTA. The station was built onto the existing right of way, with one platform taking up the former track utilized by the Boston & Albany Railroad's Grand Junction Branch, rather than going through the potentially costly and controversial eminent domain process to acquire land for a larger station. The rails of the former track were still visible in the platform until it was removed in 2015. Due to the location and short length of the platforms, trains are forced to block the Sixth Street crossing while loading and unloading passengers.
Chelsea was a proposed stop on the Urban Ring Project. The Urban Ring was to be a circumferential bus rapid transit line designed to connect the current radial MBTA rail lines, to reduce overcrowding in the downtown stations. Under draft plans released in 2008, the commuter rail platforms would have been extended to full length and raised for accessibility, with a new bus station built on the south side of the station. Although the full project was shelved in 2010 due to the MBTA's financial difficulties, some corridor routes are receiving more limited work. In March 2013, the MBTA began studying an extension of the Silver Line to Chelsea via a newly constructed bypass road in East Boston. Three alternatives were discussed for the Chelsea section. One followed the abandoned section of the Grand Junction Railroad right-of-way from Eastern Avenue to Chelsea station with stops at Eastern Avenue, Highland/Box District, Chelsea station, and Mystic Mall. The second alignment followed the Grand Junction to just short of the station, then diverged onto surface roads to Bellingham Square. The third alignment ran entirely on surface streets, serving two stops on Central Avenue and four stops along a loop serving Chelsea station and the MGH Chelsea healthcare center. In September 2013, the MBTA indicated that it would pursue the first alternative despite potential issues with bridge clearances and rebuilding Chelsea station. On October 30, 2013, MassDOT announced $82.5 million in state funding for a modified version of the first alternative to be constructed. The commuter rail station would be moved to the new Chelsea station, where more room was available for platforms, with only the Silver Line stopping at the existing site near Bellingham Square. Service was then expected to begin in late 2015. A construction contract was approved in September 2014, and construction began in March 2015. In June 2015, the outbound platform was removed to make way for the busway construction; a temporary asphalt platform was placed between the tracks. Silver Line service on the SL3 branch began on April 21, 2018. The second phase of the project includes the relocated Chelsea commuter rail station plus transit signal priority upgrades for the SL3. Construction began in August 2019, with completion planned for late 2021.
Bus connections
Five MBTA bus routes converge on Bellingham Square near the station:
: Woodlawn–
: –Wood Island station
: Market Basket–
: –Maverick station via Revere Street
: Wonderland station–Maverick station via Beach Street
Routes 112 and 114 serve the station directly on 6th Street, while route 111 serves the station directly from Washington Avenue. Routes 116 and 117 run on other streets to the east.
