Railroad station

The station originally opened in 1848 as Milton Mills, a station on the Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad, a subsidiary of the Old Colony Railroad.^[2] The station was renamed Milton Lower Mills in 1871.^[3] The Shawmut Branch Railroad opened between Harrison Square and Milton Lower Mills on December 2, 1872, and most Mattapan–Boston service began using that line north of Milton Lower Mills.^[4]

A new station building was constructed in 1884–85.^[5][6] On February 2, 1885, the station was renamed Milton at the request of residents, who considered the new name "more dignified".^[3][4] The building was destroyed on February 28, 1887, by a fire caused by a lamp explosion. The loss to the railroad was estimated at $20,000 (equivalent to $590,000 in 2023).^[7] A temporary station was in use until construction began on a new station on August 30.^[8] Some 30 by 80 feet (9.1 m × 24.4 m) in size, it was completed later in 1887.^[9][10]

Streetcar station

Conversion of the section between Ashmont and Mattapan to an interurban-style streetcar line by the Boston Elevated Railway began in 1926. The former Milton station building was demolished in May 1929.^[3] The segment of the Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line from Ashmont to Milton was opened on August 26, 1929. Milton was the terminus of the streetcar line until the remaining segment to Mattapan opened on December 21, 1929.^[11]

On March 18, 1968, the Neponset River flooded the line at Milton station after a 7-inch (180 mm) rainfall. Restoration work began at 6:00 am on March 21 as the waters receded; service was resumed by 4:30 pm.^[12][13] In June 2006, Milton station was closed for 18 months while the MBTA renovated stations on the Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line. Streetcar service was replaced by shuttle buses, and resumed in December 2007.^[11][14]

The stairs to the station from Adams Street – the only entrance not via private parking lots - were closed in 2018 due to deteriorating condition. The MBTA did not repair the stairs because doing so would trigger a larger accessibility renovation of the station, likely including an elevator. In August 2022, the town of Milton threatened to sue the MBTA to force repair of the stairs.^[15] The MBTA, in response, indicated it would demolish the stairs rather than repairing them.^[16] The Milton board voted in September to sue the MBTA; at that point, the MBTA intended to demolish the stairs by the end of the year.^[17] The lawsuit was filed in October 2022.^[18] Despite the objections of town officials, including an appeal to state governor Maura Healey, the MBTA demolished the staircase on March 6–9, 2023.^[19][20][21]

The MBTA plans to convert the line to modern light rail equipment. All stations would have raised platforms for level boarding on the new vehicles. An elevator to the inbound platform would be added at Milton, with an accessible ramp possibly added prior to the main renovation. Construction cost for Milton station was estimated as $11.5 million in 2023.^[1] In December 2023, the Milton Conservation Commission approved plans for an accessible path from Adams Street to the northbound platform – an interim measure to improve access to the station.^[22]