Green Line (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority)
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The Green Line is one of the four MBTA subway lines in the Boston, Massachusetts metro area. It runs in part over the Tremont Street Subway, the oldest subway tunnel in North America, which opened in stages between September 1, 1897 and September 3, 1898. The elevated line between the Canal Street portal at North Station and Lechmere Square was opened June 1, 1912; it is scheduled to be closed and partially demolished in 2004, the demolished portions to be replaced with a tunnel through the North Station parking garage. The Boylston Street subway opened from Charles and Boylston Streets to a portal at Kenmore St. at Governor's Square on October 3, 1914. The Kenmore St. portal was replaced by a new, four-track underground Kenmore Station on October 23, 1932. The Huntington Ave. subway opened February 16, 1941, allowing the closure of the portal at Charles and Boylston. Finally, the Highland Branch of the Boston and Albany railroad was converted to high-speed trolley service on July 4, 1959.
One segment of the original Tremont Street Subway has remained abandoned since April 6, 1962, between Boylston Station and a portal at Tremont and Broadway in what is now the Theatre District. It has been proposed to reopen this tunnel for use by the Silver Line.
The modern-day Green Line has its northern terminus at Lechmere Station in Cambridge. From here it runs east and then south through Boston, diverging once west of Copley Square, and then into three separate branches at Kenmore Square. The Copley branch is the E Line, which presently terminates at the Heath Street station. The Kenmore branches are the B Line, terminating at the Boston College station, the C Line, terminating at the Cleveland Circle station in Brookline, and the D Line, terminating at the Riverside station in Newton.
A fifth line branched off the Commonwealth Ave. line at Packard's Corner running via Union Square Allston, Brighton Center, and Oak Square, to Watertown Square. This service was suspended on June 21, 1969 due to a streetcar shortage, and was never resumed. (Although the route-letter scheme had been introduced two years prior to its closure, the "A" designation was never signed on streetcars operating to Watertown. It was, however, included in the destination signs on the Boeing-Vertol light rail vehicles ordered in the mid-1970s, when reopening the Watertown service was still under consideration.) The A line tracks remained in non-revenue service to access maintenance facilities at Watertown until 1994.
Unlike the Red Line, Blue Line and Orange Line, all of which run cars in a deep depression in the ground so that the car is level with the platform and thus the cars are easily handicap-accessible, the Green Line runs standard light rail cars such that the platform is level with the bottom of the wheels of the cars, and users must step up into the vehicle.
Stations
- Lechmere (Cambridge Street, Cambridge)
- Science Park (Charles River Dam, Boston, serving the Boston Museum of Science)
- North Station (Canal Street, Boston)
- Haymarket (Congress and New Sudbury Streets, Boston), with free transfer to the Orange Line
- Government Center (Tremont, Court and Cambridge Streets, Boston, serving Boston City Hall), with free transfer to the Blue Line
- Park Street (Tremont, Park and Winter Streets, Boston, at the Boston Common), with free transfer to the Orange and Red Lines
- Boylston (Tremont and Boylston Streets, Boston)
- Arlington (Boylston and Arlington Streets, Boston)
- Copley (Copley Square, Boston)
- Hynes Convention Center/ICA (Massachusetts Ave and Newbury Street, Boston; formerly Auditorium)
- Kenmore (Kenmore Square, Boston, serving Fenway Park)
B Line
"Boston College" line diverging from Kenmore. Travels down Commonwealth Ave. The B Line stations are primarily named for the cross-streets of Commonwealth Ave.
- Boston University East (at Granby Street, Boston, the first of three stations serving Boston University)
- Boston University Central (at Marsh Chapel, Boston)
- Boston University West (at Amory Street, Boston)
- St. Paul Street
- Pleasant Street
- Babcock Street
- Packard's Corner (at Brighton Ave., Allston, where the Watertown line formerly diverged)
- Harvard Avenue (at Harvard Avenue, Allston)
- Griggs Street
- Allston Street
- Warren Street
- Washington Street
- Sutherland Road
- Chiswick Road
- Chestnut Hill Avenue (at Chestnut Hill Avenue, Brighton; in easy walking distance of the C Line's Cleveland Circle station, and the D Line's Reservoir station)
- South Street
- Boston College (at Lake Street, Brighton; serving Boston College)
C Line
"Cleveland Circle" line diverging from Kenmore. Travels down Beacon Street through Brookline. The C Line stations are primarily named for the cross-streets of Beacon St. These are a few of the notable ones:
- Coolidge Corner (Coolidge Corner, Brookline, Beacon and Harvard Streets)
- Washington Square (Washington Square, Brookline, Beacon and Washington Streets)
- Cleveland Circle (Cleveland Circle, Brighton, Beacon Street and Chestnut Hill Avenue; in easy walking distance of the B Line's Chestnut Hill Ave station, and the D Line's Reservoir station)
D Line
"Highland Branch" diverging from Kenmore. Named for the Highland Branch railroad line from the 19th century upon whose right-of-way it was built. Travels parallel to and south of Beacon Street through Brookline and Newton.
The Newton Centre and Newton Highlands stations still feature classic station houses from the early 20th century. The Newton Centre station was renovated into shops in the 1980s, but the Newton Highlands station is not actively used.
- Fenway (near The Fenway, Boston, by the old Sears building)
- Longwood (Chapel and Longwood Streets, Brookline)
- Brookline Village (off Harvard and Washington Streets, and Route 9, Brookline)
- Brookline Hills (Cypress and Tappan Streets, Brookline, by the Brookline High School)
- Beaconsfield (Dean Road and Beacon Street, Brookline)
- Reservoir (Cleveland Circle, Brookline, named for the Chestnut Hill Reservoir; in easy walking distance of the B Line's Chestnut Hill Avenue station and the C Line's Cleveland Circle station)
- Chestnut Hill (Hammond Street near Middlesex Road and Route 9, Newton)
- Newton Centre (Newton Centre, Newton, near Beacon and Centre Streets)
- Newton Highlands (Lincoln and Walnut Streets, Newton)
- Eliot (Route 9, Lincoln Street and Meredith Avenue, Newton)
- Waban (Beacon Street at Waban Square, Newton)
- Woodland (Washington Street, Newton, serving the Newton-Wellesley Hospital)
- Riverside (Grove Street, Newton, exit 22 off I-95, named for the Charles River)
E Line
"Arborway" line diverging from Copley. Travels mainly down Huntington Ave.
- Prudential (Huntington Ave, Back Bay, Boston, serving the Prudential Center)
- Symphony (Massachusetts and Huntington Aves, Boston, serving Symphony Hall)
- Northeastern University (Huntington Ave and Opera Place, Boston, serving Northeastern University)
- Museum of Fine Arts (Huntington Ave and Ruggles St, Boston, serving the Museum of Fine Arts)
- Longwood Medical Area (Huntington and Longwood Ave, Boston)
- Brigham Circle (Huntington Ave and Francis Street, Boston; private right-of-way ends south of here)
- Fenwood Street (Huntington Ave and Fenwood Street, Boston)
- Mission Park (Huntington Ave and Mission Park, Boston)
- Riverway (South Huntington and Huntington Aves, Boston)
- Back of the Hill (South Huntington Ave, Boston)
- Heath Street (Heath Street, Boston)
Train service originally ran beyond Heath Street to Arborway, but service was "temporarily" replaced in 1985 by the number 39 bus. Pursuant to environmental mitigation commitments made by the state regarding the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, service south of Heath Street is supposed to resume as soon as the tracks and overhead wiring are reconstructed and a sufficient number of low-floor streetcars are available to operate the service.
References
- Jonathan Belcher, "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA District, 1964-2003", Rollsign, November 28, 2003 ()
See also
