Red Line (MBTA)

MBTA Red Line
An MBTA Red Line train composed of #3 Red Line stock leaving Charles/MGH station bound for Alewife, going over the Longfellow Bridge.
Overview
Owner	MBTA
Locale	Boston, Massachusetts
Termini	Alewife Ashmont or Braintree
Stations	17 (Alewife-Ashmont) 18 (Alewife-Braintree)
Service
Type	Rapid transit
Services	2
Operator(s)	MBTA
Rolling stock	1, #2, #3 Red Line
History
Opened	1912
Technical
Character	Subway, Grade-separated ROW
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Route map Template:Infobox rdt

Red Line train of #1 Red Line stock crossing the Charles River on the Longfellow Bridge, towards Boston

File:View from Boston Red Line.agr.jpg

View of Boston from the Red Line

The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the MBTA running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities. From the northwest, the line begins in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Alewife station, near the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2. The line passes through downtown Boston, with transfers to the Green Line at Park Street station, the Orange Line at Downtown Crossing, and the Silver Line at South Station. South of downtown, the line splits at JFK/UMass station, where one branch provides service to Braintree station and the other to Ashmont station. A connection to the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line extends the reach of the Ashmont branch to Mattapan station.

Regular fare is $1.70 when using a CharlieCard or $2.00 when using cash or a Charlie Ticket, regardless of point of boarding or departure. Exit fares on the Braintree extension were discontinued in 2007. Approximate travel times to or from Park Street station (excluding headways) are as follows: northbound to Harvard station, 11 minutes; Alewife station, 20 minutes; southbound to JFK/UMass, 8 minutes; Ashmont station, 17 minutes; Braintree station, 28 minutes.

History

The Red Line was the last of the four original Boston subway lines (Green, Orange, Blue) to begin construction. The section from Harvard station and Eliot Yard connecting to Park Street station and the Tremont Street Subway opened on March 23, 1912. At Harvard, a prepayment station was provided for easy transfer to streetcar routes operating in a separate tunnel (now the Harvard Bus Tunnel). Opening of the line required construction of the Cambridge Tunnel just beneath Massachusetts Avenue and Main Street from Harvard onto the (now historic) Longfellow Bridge. The line occupied a previously constructed rail right-of-way in the center of the bridge. On the Boston side of the bridge, the line briefly transformed into an elevated railway, rising over Charles Circle and connecting to another tunnel dug through Beacon Hill to Park Street. Further extensions (built as the Dorchester Tunnel) to Washington Street and South Station opened on April 4, 1915 and December 3, 1916, with transfers to the Washington Street Tunnel and Atlantic Avenue Elevated respectively. Further extensions opened to Broadway on December 15, 1917 and Andrew on June 29, 1918, both prepayment stations for streetcar transfer. The Broadway station included an upper level with its own tunnel for streetcars, which was abandoned in 1919 due to most lines being truncated to Andrew. The upper level has since been incorporated into the mezzanine.

Next came the Dorchester Extension, now known as the Ashmont Branch. The branch followed a rail right-of-way created in 1870 by the Shawmut Branch Railroad. In 1872, the right-of-way was acquired by the Old Colony Railroad to connect the main line at Harrison Square with the Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad, running from the Old Colony at Neponset, west to what is now Mattapan station. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad succeeded Old Colony in operating the branch and rail passenger service ceased in anticipation of the MTA expansion on September 4, 1926,

The MTA opened the first phase of the Dorchester Extension to Field's Corner station on November 5, 1927. Service ran south from Andrew station, turned southeast to the surface, and ran along the west side of the Old Colony mainline in a depressed right-of-way. Columbia station and Savin Hill station were built on the surface at the sites of former Old Colony stations. The remainder of the extension opened to Ashmont station and Codman Yard on September 1, 1928, and included a station - Shawmut - where there had been no Old Colony station due to the relatively close proximity to Fields Corner. The first phase of the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line opened on August 26, 1929, using the rest of the Shawmut Branch right-of-way, including Cedar Grove station, and part of the old Dorchester and Milton Branch.

The color red was assigned on August 26, 1965 to what had been called the Cambridge-Dorchester Tunnel and marked on maps as route 1. The color was chosen because the line ended at Harvard University, whose school color is crimson, a shade of red.

The first section of the South Shore Line opened on September 1, 1971. This line branched from the original line at a flying junction north of Columbia and ran along the west side of the Old Colony right-of-way (since reduced to one track), crossing to the east side north of Savin Hill. Its northernmost station was North Quincy, with two others at Wollaston and Quincy Center. The rest of the line, the Braintree Extension (first planned by the Boston Transportation Planning Review) to Braintree station, opened March 22, 1980, and the intermediate station at Quincy Adams station opened on September 10, 1983.

The first part of the Northwest Extension, the relocation of Harvard station, was finished on September 6, 1983. During construction, several temporary stations were built at Harvard Square. The old Eliot Yard was demolished; Harvard's Kennedy School of Government now sits inside the retaining walls built for the railyard. Subsequent extensions to Porter station, Davis station on December 8, 1984, and Alewife station on March 30, 1985 brought the Red Line to its current extent. There were possible plans to extend the Northwest Extension from Alewife to Lexington via an abandoned rail right-of-way, but these plans never materialized. A platform on the South Shore Line opened at JFK/UMass (formerly Columbia) on December 14, 1988.

Platforms on older stations were lengthened in the late 1980s to allow six-car trains, which first ran January 21, 1988. During the expansion, the MBTA invested in an Arts on the line public art program.

In 1968, letters were assigned to the south branches - "A" for Quincy (planned to extend to South Braintree) and "C" for Ashmont. "B" was probably reserved for a planned branch from Braintree to Brockton. As new rollsigns were made, this lettering was phased out. In 1994, new electronic signs included a different labeling - "A" for Ashmont, "B" for Braintree and "C" for Alewife. [2]

Operations and signalling

File:Walking around Boston (26).jpg

Red Line Signage

The line used trip-stop wayside signalling for the Ashmont and Harvard branches until the mid-1980s, while the Braintree Branch was one of the earliest examples of Automatic Train Control (ATC). The Alewife Branch was built with ATC, at which point the remainder of the line was upgraded to ATC as well. The line was under local control at towers until 1985 when an electromechanical panel was completed at 45 High St. This was replaced in the late 1990s with a software-controlled Automatic Train Supervision, using a product by Union Switch & Signal, subcontracted to Syseca Inc. (now ARINC), at a new theater at 45 High St. Subsequent revisions to the system were made internally at the MBTA.

The shortest scheduled headway ever run on the Red Line is most likely the 1-3/4 minute interval in the schedule published in 1928. Ridership peaked on the line around 1947, when passenger counters logged over 850 people per four car train during peak periods. The newer ATC signalling was designed to higher safety standards, but the particular design of the block layout in the downtown area reduced the capacity by 50% over the previous wayside signalling system. The net loss of capacity measured in cars per hour has not been rectified, although at the same time the platforms were lengthened to run 6-car trains which are now operated on a longer headway. Additionally, the shifting between speed codes that is inherent in an ATC system near capacity caused peak period energy consumption to skyrocket, and accelerated the decline of the 01400 series fleet.

Accessibility

Most, but not all, Red Line stations are wheelchair accessible. See also MBTA accessibility.

Equipment

File:Braintree Storage Yard.jpg

Red Line cars at Braintree Storage Yard.

The Red Line is standard gauge heavy rail. Trains consist of mated pairs of Electrical Multiple Unit cars powered from a 600 VDC third rail. Trains run either in 4-car or 6-car sets.

Rolling stock is stored and maintained at the Cabot Yard, near the Broadway station in South Boston. The connection to this yard is at the junction where the two branches split, near JFK/UMass station.

1912 Cambridge Subway Cars

The so-called Cambridge Subway began service in 1912 with 40 all-steel motor cars built by Standard Steel Car Co. They featured a novel design as a result of studies about Boston‘s existing lines. The cars had an extraordinary length of 69 ft. 2½ in. over buffers and large standees capacity, weighed only 85,900 lb. and featured an all-new door arrangement. There were three single sliding doors per side that were evenly distributed along the car‘s length so that the maximum distance from any location inside the car to a door was around 9 ft. The idea was later taken over by the BMT Standards and Philadelphia‘s Frankford Elevated Line cars. Moreover about 20 ft of the car was separated by a bulkhead and used as a smoking compartment. In contrast to the elevated lines passenger flow was not intended here, so every door was used as entrance and exit as well.

Two basic types of cars are in use today:

Aluminum-bodied cars

Aluminium-bodied Red Line train at Braintree.

Aluminium-bodied Red Line cars at Harvard.

Three series of older aluminum-bodied cars built by Pullman-Standard and UTDC. The older two series of this batch, the 01500 and 01600 series, were built by Pullman in 1969–1970. The 1700 series was built by UTDC in 1988. These cars seat 62 to 64 customers and approximately 132 cars are in active service. All cars in these series are painted white with red trim and use manually-operated exterior signs.

All three groups of these older cars (units 1500 through 1757) use traditional DC traction motors with electromechanical controls manufactured by Westinghouse and can inter-operate among the three series. The 1500 and 1700 series cars could operate as singletons, but in practice, are always operated as mated pairs. The 1600 series could only operate as mated pairs.

Stainless steel-bodied cars

A Bombardier car at Harvard.

A Bombardier car's cab at Braintree.

One series of newer stainless steel-bodied cars built by Bombardier from components manufactured in Canada and assembled in Barre, Vermont. These cars seat 50 passengers and 86 cars are in active service. An automated stop announcement system provides station announcements synchronized with visual announcements displayed on LED signs located in each car. These cars are stainless steel with red trim and use yellow LCD exterior signs. Unlike the previous series, these train cars originally had red cloth seats (in contrast to the black leather seats of other models), but in the early 2000s, the cloth seats were replaced with black leather seats. Recently the black leather seats were replaced with cloth seats containing multi-colored patterns, as did the other Red Line rolling stock still in use.

Known as the 1800 series, they were built in 1993–1994. These newer cars (units 1800 through 1885) use modern AC traction motors with solid state controls manufactured by General Electric, can only operate as mated pairs, and can not interoperate with the older three series of cars.

As of December 2008, the MBTA began running a set of modified 1800 series cars without seats in order to increase train capacity and accommodate more passengers during on-peak hours. This makes the MBTA the first transit operator in the United States with heavy rail operations to run cars modified for this purpose. These cars have been designated as 'Big Red' cars, denoted by large stickers applied adjacent to the side loading doors of each car. New automated service announcements have been recorded for playback at station platforms in order to alert passengers to the arrival of these 'Big Red' high capacity trains.

Replacement of 1500, 1600 series cars

The MBTA are starting to design the next generation trains for Red Line, which will replace the 1500, 1600 series which are approaching 40 years. The new Red Line Train would use elements from the new orange line train. However it is listed in "ANTICIPATED FUTURE NEEDS". But it is most likely the new cars will not be interoperable with the older two series of cars (1700, 1800).

Art and architecture

Newer aboveground stations (particularly Alewife, Braintree, and Quincy Adams) are excellent examples of brutalist architecture.

The Kendall station features an interactive public art installation by Paul Matisse called the Kendall Band, which allows the public to activate three sound-producing machines utilizing cranks on the wall of the station. Above the tracks at Alewife hangs a series of red neon tubes called "End of Red Line". Several other stations feature public art.

Advertising

In between South Station and Broadway, and also between Harvard station and Central Square, there is an advertisement in the form of a zoetrope. The speed of the train makes the individual frames look animated without the use of strobe lights. There are similar advertisements in parts of the New York City Subway, Washington Metro and the Bay Area Rapid Transit.

In popular culture

• In 1944, Tom Lehrer wrote a song called Boston, (a parody of the song Mother) whose lyrics list stops on the Red Line and an appropriate Boston accent when necessary:

H is for my alma mater, Hahvahd.
C is Central, next stop on the line.
K is for the cozy Kendall station, and
C is for Charles, upon the brine.
P is "Pahk" Street, busy Boston center, and
W is Washington, you see.
Put them all together, they spell … HCKC-PW [pronounced as in a crude act of spitting] … which is just about what Boston means to me!

• In the 1936 H. P. Lovecraft novella "At the Mountains of Madness," as a nameless horror chases a group of Antarctic explorers through a network of subterranean passageways, one looks back at it, becomes unstrung, and rattles off by way of "monstrous, nefandous analogy" the stops from South Station to Harvard: "South Station Under - Washington Under - Park Street Under - Kendall - Central - Harvard - ". Park Street is also mentioned in Lovecraft's 1927 story "Pickman's Model."

• In the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, there are several scenes filmed on the Red Line, including across Longfellow Bridge and between Savin Hill and JFK/UMass.

• The Red Line features heavily in the 2006 film The Departed. Brief takes of the train in Dorchester, just south of the Dorchester Tunnel, and crossing over the Neponset River on the Anderson Bridge are used as transitional shots. Later in the film, several of the main characters engage in a cell conversation while riding the Red Line from Park St. to South Station, despite the fact that this section of tunnel has no cell service. There are also shots of the Park Street station and South Station exit.

Station listing

Main line

A rollsign in a Red Line car. This selection was only used in late 1984 and early 1985, while the Red Line was being expanded towards Alewife; during that time, Davis was the end of the line. However, this photo was taken in 2005, and was thus anachronistic.

Outbound train approaching South Station.

Station	Location	Opened	Transfers and notes
Alewife	Alewife Brook Parkway, Cambridge	March 30, 1985	bus terminal, park and ride garage, Minuteman Bikeway
Davis	Davis Square, Somerville	December 8, 1984	Somerville Community Path
Porter	Porter Square, Cambridge	December 8, 1984	MBTA Commuter Rail, Fitchburg Line
Stadium	Harvard Square, Cambridge	October 26, 1912	Across Charles River from Harvard Stadium. Only used during Harvard football games, last known use November 18, 1967
Harvard/Brattle	Harvard Square, Cambridge	March 24, 1979	Closed September 1, 1983, supplemented Harvard during construction of the Alewife extension
Harvard	Harvard Square, Cambridge	September 6, 1983	Original station opened March 23, 1912 and closed January 30, 1981, Harvard/Holyoke opened January 31, 1981 and closed September 1, 1983
Central	Central Square, Cambridge	March 23, 1912
Kendall/MIT	Kendall Square, Cambridge	March 23, 1912	originally Kendall until August 6, 1978, named Cambridge Center/MIT between December 2, 1982 and June 25, 1985
Charles/MGH	Cambridge and Charles Streets, Boston	February 27, 1932	originally Charles until December 1973
Park Street	Park, Tremont, and Winter Streets, Boston	March 23, 1912	Green Line originally Park Street Under
Downtown Crossing	Summer, Washington, and Winter Streets, Boston	April 4, 1915	Orange Line and Silver Line Phase I originally Washington until May 3, 1987
South Station	Dewey Square, Boston	December 3, 1916	Silver Line Phase II and MBTA Commuter Rail south side lines Had a transfer to the Atlantic Avenue Elevated
Broadway	Broadway and Dorchester Avenue, South Boston	December 15, 1917
Andrew	Andrew Square, South Boston	June 29, 1918
North of JFK/UMass, the Red Line surfaces and separates into two branches which operate on separate platforms at JFK/UMass. Just south of the station, the two branches divide as described below.
JFK/UMass	Columbia Road and Morrissey Boulevard, Dorchester	November 5, 1927	MBTA Commuter Rail, Plymouth/Kingston Line and Middleborough/Lakeville Line originally Columbia until December 1, 1982, Braintree platform opened December 14, 1988 was called Crescent Avenue as an Old Colony Railroad station

Ashmont Branch

Diverging from JFK/UMass:

Station	Location	Opened	Transfers and notes
Savin Hill	Savin Hill Avenue and Sydney Street	November 5, 1927	was an Old Colony Railroad station
Harrison Square			former split and transfer station between the Old Colony Railroad mainline and the Shawmut Branch Railroad, never a rapid transit station
Fields Corner	Charles Street and Dorchester Avenue	November 5, 1927	was a Shawmut Branch Railroad station
Shawmut	Dayton Street	September 1, 1928
Ashmont	Ashmont Street and Dorchester Avenue	September 1, 1928	Continuing service to Mattapan via the 10-minute Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line (opened December 21, 1929) was a Shawmut Branch Railroad station Cedar Grove station on the Shawmut Branch Railroad is now a station on the Mattapan Line, after which the line merges with the former Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad right-of-way

Braintree Branch (originally South Shore Line)

Diverging from JFK/UMass:

Station	Location	Opened	Transfers and notes
North Quincy	East Squantum and Hancock Streets, Quincy	September 1, 1971
Wollaston	Newport Avenue and Beale Street, Quincy	September 1, 1971
Quincy Center	Hancock and Washington Streets, Quincy	September 1, 1971	MBTA Commuter Rail, Plymouth/Kingston Line and Middleborough/Lakeville Line
Quincy Adams	Burgin Parkway and Centre Street, Quincy	September 10, 1983	Park and ride
Braintree	Ivory and Union Streets, Braintree	March 22, 1980	MBTA Commuter Rail, Plymouth/Kingston Line and Middleborough/Lakeville Line Park and ride

External links

• MBTA - Red Line
• nycsubway.org - MBTA Red Line

References

• Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district (PDF)
• Railroad History Database