The MBTA opened the modern station in March 1977 as the northern terminus of the Haymarket North Extension of the Orange Line.

It also temporarily served as the southern terminus of Haverhill Line service in 1984–85 after a bridge fire at North Station.

[6]: 154 [7] The two-story wooden station building, located on the west side of the tracks just south of Oak Grove Court, had a prominent central gable.

[5] On April 18, 1958, the Public Utilities Commission approved a vast set of cuts to Boston and Maine Railroad commuter service, including all stations on the Western Route south of Wyoming Hill save for Malden.

[12] Oak Grove opened on March 20, 1977, as the northern terminus of the Haymarket North Extension of the Orange Line.

After the approach trestles at North Station burned on January 20, 1984, Malden Center temporarily became the inbound terminus for the Haverhill Line.

[1] The switch may have been made due to a request by John A. Brennan Jr., who was then constructing a large development near Malden Center station.

(Double track begins just north of the station, making operations easier than using Malden Center as the terminal.

[16]) It served this role during the 2004 Democratic National Convention, when North Station was closed for a week for security purposes.

[17] During 2013, the MBTA performed heavy maintenance on the Orange Line platform, which had substantially deteriorated during 36 years of operation.

[18] The existing elevators, which connect the fare mezzanine to the Orange Line platform and the busway, were built with the station and renovated in 1987.