Orange Line (MBTA)

MBTA Orange Line
Inbound train at North Station
Overview
Owner	MBTA
Locale	Boston, Massachusetts
Termini	Oak Grove Forest Hills
Stations	19
Service
Type	Rapid transit
Operator(s)	MBTA
Rolling stock	12 Main Line cars
History
Opened	1901
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Route map Orange Line All stations are accessible Haymarket North Extension Oak Grove Malden Center Wellington Carhouse │ Wellington Mystic River Assembly Sullivan Square Community College Charles River Green Line to Lechmere North Station Washington Street Tunnel Haymarket Green Line outbound State Downtown Crossing Chinatown Tufts Medical Center Back Bay Southwest Corridor Massachusetts Avenue Ruggles Roxbury Crossing Jackson Square Stony Brook Green Street Forest Hills

The Orange Line is one of the four subway lines of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. It extends from Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, Boston in the south to Oak Grove in Malden, Massachusetts in the north. It meets the Red Line at Downtown Crossing, the Blue Line at State, and the Green Line at Haymarket and North Station. It connects with Amtrak and Commuter Rail service at Back Bay and North Station, and just the commuter rail at Ruggles station in Roxbury.

History

The current name is derived from Orange Street, an old name for the section of Washington Street immediately south of downtown under which the Washington Street Tunnel, forming the center of the line, still runs. (Cars throughout the Boston rapid transit network were formerly painted orange or with orange stripes by MBTA predecessors, and restored streetcars on the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line wear their historical orange livery, but this is largely coincidental.)

The Main Line of the electric Boston Elevated Railway opened in segments in 1901. It proceed from Everett along the Charlestown Elevated to the Canal Street Incline near North Station. It was carried underground by the Tremont Street Subway (now the Green Line) returning above ground at the Pleasant Street Incline (now closed, located just outbound of Boylston Station). A temporary link connected it to the Washington Street Elevated, which in 1901 ran from this point via Washington Street to Dudley Square (which is most of what is now Phase 1 of the Silver Line).

Also in 1901, the Atlantic Avenue Elevated opened, branching at Causeway Street to provide an alternate route through downtown Boston (along the shoreline, where in 2007 there is no rail transit) to the Washington Street Elevated.

In 1908, the Washington Street Tunnel opened, allowing Main Line service to travel via new portals at the Canal Street Incline, under downtown, and back up again to meet the Washington Street Elevated and Atlantic Avenue Elevated near Chinatown. Use of the Tremont Street Subway was returned to streetcars exclusively.

By 1909, the Washington Street Elevated had been extended to Forest Hills. Trains from Washington Street were routed through the new subway, either all the way to Everett, or back around in a loop via both the subway and the Atlantic Avenue Elevated.

At some point, the southern connection between South Station and Washington Street was closed, breaking the loop. By 1938, the entire Atlantic Avenue Elevated had been closed, leaving only the subway routing through downtown - the core of what is now the Orange Line.

Ownership of the railway was transferred from the private Boston Elevated Railway to the public Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in 1947, reconstituted as the modern Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in 1964.

The Boston Transportation Planning Review looked at the line in the 1970s, considering extensions to the beltway Route 128 with termini at Reading in the north and Dedham in the south. The first actual realignment was in 1975, when the Charlestown Elevated was demolished. The Haymarket North Extension rerouted the Orange Line through an underwater crossing of the Charles River, with a terminus in Malden, Massachusetts instead of Everett.

Construction of Interstate 95 into downtown Boston was cancelled in 1972 after local protest over the necessary demolition. However, land for the Southwest Corridor through Roxbury had already been cleared of buildings. Instead of a highway, the Orange Line subway would be re-routed into the corridor.

Replacement of elevated sections

The old Main Line Elevated and related lines

The Atlantic Avenue Elevated was closed in 1938.

Charlestown and Everett service

Service on the Charlestown Elevated to the Charlestown neighborhood north of downtown Boston and the suburb Everett was teminated in 1975. Service in Charlestown was replaced with service along Boston and Albany tracks under Interstate 93, ultimately to Wellington and Oak Grove. The service to Everett was not replaced.

Washington Street service

Between April 30 and May 3, 1987, the Washington Street Elevated south of the Essex station was closed to allow the Orange Line to be tied into the new Southwest Corridor. On May 4, 1987, the Orange Line was rerouted out of the southern end of the Washington Street Tunnel and onto the new Southwest Corridor. Instead of rising into elevated tracks, it instead veered west at the Massachusetts Turnpike and followed the Pike and the old Boston and Albany Railroad right-of-way to the existing MBTA Commuter Rail stop at Back Bay. It then continued along new tracks, partially covered and partially open but depressed, to Forest Hills. This right-of-way is also shared by Amtrak as part of the national Northeast Corridor.

While ending up more or less in the same place, the new routing bypassed Washington Street significantly to the west; local residents were promised replacement service. In 2002, Phase 1 of the Silver Line bus rapid transit was added to connect Washington Street to the downtown subways, attempting to address this. This was controversial, as many residents would prefer the return of rail transportation.

St. Elsewhere TV series

The old Orange Line El was the train seen in the opening sequence of the television program St. Elsewhere. During the last season, however, the Washington Street El no longer existed, and its showing was thus anachronistic, although one could make the case that since the whole show was imaginary, the El may still have existed in that universe.

Renovations during the Big Dig

Outbound Train at North Station

Haymarket and North Station received major renovations during the Big Dig in the 1990s and 2000s, as the Causeway Street elevated portion of the Green Line was buried, its physical connection to the Orange Line was improved to make transfers easier, the Canal Street Incline was finally closed, and the Green Line was re-rerouted through a new portal closer to the river, near the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge.

Station listing

Station	Time to Downtown Crossing (min)	Opened	Transfers and notes
Oak Grove	15	March 20, 1977
Malden Center	13	December 27, 1975	Commuter Rail, Haverhill/Reading Line
Wellington	10	September 6, 1975
Sullivan Square	7	April 7, 1975	originally on the Charlestown Elevated closed April 4, 1975
Community College	5	April 7, 1975	serves Bunker Hill Community College
North Station	3	April 7, 1975	Green Line and Commuter Rail north side lines
Haymarket	2	November 30, 1908	Green Line originally Friend-Union until January 25, 1967
State	1	November 30, 1908	Blue Line originally Milk-State until January 24, 1967
Downtown Crossing	0	November 30, 1908	Red Line, Green Line and Silver Line originally Winter-Summer until January 22, 1967, then Washington until May 3, 1987
Chinatown	2	November 30, 1908	Silver Line originally Boylston-Essex until February 10, 1967, then Essex until May 3, 1987
New England Medical Center	3	May 4, 1987	Silver Line
Back Bay	6	May 4, 1987	Amtrak station Commuter Rail, Providence/Stoughton Line, Framingham/Worcester Line, Franklin Line and Needham Line also called Back Bay/South End
Massachusetts Avenue	8	May 4, 1987
Ruggles	9	May 4, 1987	Commuter Rail, Providence/Stoughton Line, Franklin Line and Needham Line
Roxbury Crossing	10	May 4, 1987
Jackson Square	12	May 4, 1987
Stony Brook	14	May 4, 1987
Green Street	16	May 4, 1987	on the Washington Street Elevated closed April 30, 1987
Forest Hills	18	May 4, 1987	Commuter Rail Providence/Stoughton Line, Franklin Line and Needham Line on the Washington Street Elevated closed April 30, 1987

Diversions

For the past few years the MBTA has run diversions during select weekends in order to perform track and signaling work. During these diversions shuttle buses are run between select stations. This usually takes place on the northern end of the line (Oak Grove - Sullivan, Oak Grove - Wellington, or Oak Grove - Haymarket). During this diversion buses are filled to capacity and many customers consider it a nuisance.

Equipment

The Orange Line is standard gauge heavy rail. The current fleet is the 01200 series, built 1980-1981 by Hawker Siddeley Canada Car and Foundry (now Bombardier Transportation) of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. They are 65 feet (20 meters) long and 111 inches (2.8 meters) wide, with three pairs of doors on each side. They are based on the PA3 model used by PATH in New Jersey. There are 120 cars, numbered 01200-01319. These units are expected to remain in service until 2015.[1] All in-service orange line trains run in six-car configurations.

Accessibility

All stations on the Orange Line are handicapped accessible, though State is not fully accessible on the Blue Line.

External links

• MBTA - Orange Line
• Jamaica Plain Historical Society - Orange Line Memories
• Jamaica Plain Historical Society - Orange Line Replaced Old Railroad Embankment