Red Line (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority)
The Red Line is the newest of the four MBTA subway lines in the Boston, Massachusetts metro area. It has its northwestern terminus at the Alewife station near Fresh Pond Parkway and Route 2 in West Cambridge, meets the Green Line at Park Street and the Orange Line at Downtown Crossing, and splits into two branches south of South Boston. One branch terminates at Braintree, and the other at Ashmont in Dorchester with a trolley extension to Mattapan.
History
The Red Line gets its name from crimson, the school color of Harvard University. Until 1985, when it was extended to Alewife, the Red Line terminated at Harvard Square.
The Red Line was originally known as the Cambridge-Dorchester Tunnel. The segment from Harvard to Park Street Under opened first, on March 23, 1912, followed quickly with extensions southward to Washington Street and South Station by late 1916. Service was extended to South Boston in 1917 and 1918. Completion of the Dorchester Branch did not resume until the late 1920s, with Ashmont Station opening September 1, 1928. The Braintree branch opened exactly 43 years later, in 1971, over the former right of way of the Old Colony Railroad, and was finally extended to its current terminus in Braintree on March 22, 1980.
The Northwest Extension opened as far as Davis Square on December 8, 1984, and to Alewife Station on March 30, 1985. Platforms on older stations were lengthened later in the 1980s to allow six car trains. During the expansion, the MBTA invested in an Arts on the line public art program. Some of the works are listed in the station stop articles.
In 1944, Tom Lehrer wrote a song called Boston, (a parody of the song Mother) whose lyrics list stops on the Red Line beginning with "H" is for my alma mater, Hahvid..., and ending with Put them all together, they spell...HCKC...PW... );
Which is just about what Boston means to me!
Stations
Main line
- Alewife (Alewife Brook Parkway, Cambridge)
- Davis (Davis Square, Somerville)
- Porter (Porter Square, Cambridge)
- Harvard (Harvard Square, Cambridge)
- Central (Central Square, Cambridge)
- Kendall/MIT (Kendall Square, Cambridge; originally Kendall)
- Charles/MGH (Cambridge and Charles Streets, Boston; originally Charles)
- Park Street (Park, Tremont, and Winter Streets, Boston; originally Park Street Under)
- Downtown Crossing (Summer, Washington, and Winter Streets, Boston; originally Washington)
- South Station (Dewey Square, Boston)
- Broadway (Broadway and Dorchester Avenue, South Boston)
- Andrew (Andrew Square, South Boston)
- JFK/UMass (Columbia Road and Morrissey Boulevard, Dorchester; originally Columbia)
Dorchester Branch
Diverging from JFK/UMass Station:
- Savin Hill (Savin Hill Avenue and Sidney Street)
- Fields Corner (Charles Street and Dorchester Avenue)
- Shawmut (Dayton Street)
- Ashmont (Ashmont Street and Dorchester Avenue)
- Continuing service to Mattapan via the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line
Braintree Branch
Diverging from JFK/UMass Station:
- North Quincy (East Squantum and Hancock Streets, Quincy)
- Wollaston (Newport Avenue and Beale Street, Quincy)
- Quincy Center (Hancock and Washington Streets, Quincy)
- Quincy Adams (Burgin Parkway and Centre Street, Quincy)
- Braintree (Ivory and Union Streets, Braintree)
Accessibility
Most, but not all, Red Line stations are wheelchair accessible. See MBTA accessibility.
