Orange Line (MBTA)
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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.
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[edit] 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.[1] (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.
[edit] Replacement of elevated sections
The Atlantic Avenue Elevated was closed in 1938.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Washington Street service
Between April 30 and May 3, 1987, the Washington Street Elevated south of the Essex (Chinatown) 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Renovations during the Big Dig
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.
[edit] Station listing
| Station | Time to Downtown Crossing (min)[2] | Opened | Transfers and notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg Oak Grove | 15 | March 20, 1977 | |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg Malden Center | 13 | December 27, 1975 | Commuter Rail, Haverhill/Reading Line |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg Wellington | 10 | September 6, 1975 | |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg Sullivan Square | 7 | April 7, 1975 | originally on the Charlestown Elevated closed April 4, 1975 |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg Community College | 5 | April 7, 1975 | serves Bunker Hill Community College |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg North Station | 3 | April 7, 1975 | Green Line and Commuter Rail north side lines |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg Haymarket | 2 | November 30, 1908 | Green Line originally Friend-Union until January 25, 1967 |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg State | 1 | November 30, 1908 | Blue Line originally Milk-State until January 24, 1967 |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg 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 |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg Chinatown | 2 | November 30, 1908 | Silver Line originally Boylston-Essex until February 10, 1967, then Essex until May 3, 1987 |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg New England Medical Center | 3 | May 4, 1987 | Silver Line |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg 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 |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg Massachusetts Avenue | 8 | May 4, 1987 | |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg Ruggles | 9 | May 4, 1987 | Commuter Rail, Providence/Stoughton Line, Franklin Line and Needham Line |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg Roxbury Crossing | 10 | May 4, 1987 | |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg Jackson Square | 12 | May 4, 1987 | |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg Stony Brook | 14 | May 4, 1987 | |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg Green Street | 16 | May 4, 1987 | on the Washington Street Elevated closed April 30, 1987 |
| Image:Wheelchair symbol.svg 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 |
[edit] 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.
[edit] Accessibility
All stations on the Orange Line are handicapped accessible, though State is not fully accessible on the Blue Line.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | |
|---|---|
| Subway lines | Green Line ("B" Branch · "C" Branch · "D" Branch · "E" Branch) • Red Line (Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line) • Orange Line • Blue Line • Silver Line |
| Commuter Rail lines | Greenbush • Old Colony Lines • Fairmount • Providence/Stoughton • Franklin • Needham • Framingham/Worcester • Fitchburg • Lowell • Haverhill/Reading • Newburyport/Rockport • North-South Rail Link |
| Bus routes | List of bus routes • Crosstown routes • Trackless trolleys • Key routes • Buses in East Boston, Chelsea, and Revere • Buses in South Boston |
| Former lines | Charlestown Elevated • Atlantic Avenue Elevated • Washington Street Elevated • Boston Elevated Railway • Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway • Middlesex and Boston Street Railway • Green Line "A" Branch • Boston-area streetcar lines |
| Miscellaneous | Accessibility • Boat service • CharlieCard • MBTA Police • Nomenclature • List of subway stations |
Currently operating heavy rail rapid transit systems in the United States |
|---|
MTA (New York City Subway and Staten Island Railway) ·
PATH ·
SEPTA (Market–Frankford and Broad Street Lines) ·
PATCO Speedline ·
MTA Maryland (Metro Subway) ·
WMATA (Metrorail) ·
MARTA ·
Miami-Dade Transit (Miami Metrorail) ·
Tren Urbano ·
RTA Rapid Transit (Red Line) ·
CTA (Chicago 'L') ·
BART ·
LACMTA (Metro Purple and Metro Red Lines)
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[edit] Notes
- ^ Orange Street on Map of Boston 1775
- ^ From Association for Public Transportation, Car-Free in Boston, A Guide for Locals and Visitors, 10th ed. (2003), p.117, and MBTA website, roughly interpolated by distance between stations.
