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149-759: The E branch (also referred to as the Huntington Avenue branch , or formerly as the Arborway Line ) is a light rail line in Boston , Cambridge , Medford , and Somerville , Massachusetts , operating as part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line . The line runs in mixed traffic on South Huntington Avenue and Huntington Avenue between Heath Street and Brigham Circle (the last MBTA street-running tracks in revenue service), in

298-724: A "light rail" vehicle (it is a heavy rail vehicle), and is only included for comparison purposes. Low-floor LRVs have the advantage of a low-floor design, allowing them to load passengers directly from low-rise platforms that can be little more than raised curbs. High-floor light rail systems also exist, featuring larger stations. Historically, the track gauge has had considerable variations, with narrow gauge common in many early systems. However, most light rail systems are now standard gauge . Older standard-gauge vehicles could not negotiate sharp turns as easily as narrow-gauge ones, but modern light rail systems achieve tighter turning radii by using articulated cars . An important advantage of

447-560: A $ 32 million modification of thirteen B, C, and E branch stations - were completed in 2003. Prudential station was made accessible in 2002–03 as part of the construction of 111 Huntington Avenue nearby. From June 28, 2004, to November 12, 2005, E branch service was cut back to North Station as the Causeway Street elevated was replaced by a new tunnel. Track work again caused the line to be cut to Brigham Circle from September 2 to December 30, 2006. Three-car trains were operated on

596-741: A Chestnut Hill–Brookline Village bus route was added. The Ipswich Street line was cut to a short shuttle route in mid-1933, with a new Brookline Village– Kenmore bus route. Cypress Street Carhouse closed on December 3, 1933; the Cypress Street route joined the South Huntington Avenue route in operating from Arborway Yard. On June 10, 1934, Cypress Street service was cut back to Brookline Village, and buses began operating between Cypress Street and Kenmore. The two bus routes were modified numerous times; they were combined in 1985 and are now MBTA bus route 60 . The Allston–Dudley route

745-458: A bus, there will be even more capacity when there is a combination of cars and light rail. Table 3 shows an example of peak passenger capacity. The cost of light rail construction varies widely, largely depending on the amount of tunneling and elevated structures required. A survey of North American light rail projects shows that costs of most LRT systems range from $ 15 million to over $ 100 million per mile. Seattle's new light rail system

894-403: A chaotic breakdown inflow and a dramatic drop in speed (a traffic jam ) if they exceed about 2,000 vehicles per hour per lane (each car roughly two seconds behind another). Since most people who drive to work or on business trips do so alone, studies show that the average car occupancy on many roads carrying commuters is only about 1.5 people per car during the high-demand rush hour periods of

1043-1142: A common right-of-way (however, Link converted to full separation in 2019). Some systems, such as the AirTrain JFK in New York City, the DLR in London, and Kelana Jaya Line in Kuala Lumpur , have dispensed with the need for an operator. The Vancouver SkyTrain was an early adopter of driverless vehicles, while the Toronto Scarborough rapid transit operated the same trains as Vancouver, but used drivers. In most discussions and comparisons, these specialized systems are generally not considered light rail but as light metro systems. Around Karlsruhe , Kassel , and Saarbrücken in Germany, dual-voltage light rail trains partly use mainline railroad tracks, sharing these tracks with heavy rail trains. In

1192-627: A connection was made with the Commonwealth Avenue Street Railway . In November 1894, the Cypress Street branch was extended slightly to the new Cypress Street carhouse, which housed 36 streetcars. The carhouse was expanded in 1897, with a new capacity around 79 cars. Electrification of the Longwood Avenue branch was after the other Huntington Avenue branches, completed in 1894 or 1895. Only the Boston portion of

1341-673: A dedicated median only on Huntington Avenue west of Dartmouth Street.) A subway as far as Mechanics Hall was proposed in 1911, but it was rejected in 1912 on the grounds that the opening of the Cambridge subway and the Boylston Street subway would halve the number of streetcars on Boylston Street. In May 1924, the state legislature directed the Metropolitan District Commission to plan an expanded rapid transit system in Boston, including an extension of

1490-524: A larger part of their route. By then, three routes used the Huntington Avenue line: A loop at Heath Street was constructed in 1945 to allow use of the new PCC streetcars , which only had an operator's cab at one end and could not use crossovers like the one at Francis Street to reverse direction. Route 57 was extended to the new loop on December 15, 1945, and began using PCC streetcars on January 3, 1946. From June 1947 to June 1949, and again in

1639-416: A light rail train may have three to four cars of much larger capacity in one train under the control of one driver, or no driver at all in fully automated systems, increasing the labor costs of BRT systems compared to LRT systems. BRT systems are also usually less fuel-efficient as they use non-electrified vehicles. The peak passenger capacity per lane per hour depends on which types of vehicles are allowed on

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1788-435: A live rail. In outer areas, the trams switch to conventional overhead wires . The Bordeaux power system costs about three times as much as a conventional overhead wire system and took 24 months to achieve acceptable levels of reliability, requiring the replacement of all the main cables and power supplies. Operating and maintenance costs of the innovative power system still remain high. However, despite numerous service outages,

1937-543: A longer distance. Light rail cars are often coupled into multiple units of two to four cars. Light rail systems may also exhibit attributes of heavy rail systems, including having downtown subways, as in San Francisco and Seattle . Light rail is designed to address a gap in interurban transportation between heavy rail and bus services, carrying high passenger numbers more quickly than local buses and more cheaply than heavy rail. It serves corridors in which heavy rail

2086-570: A lower capacity and speed than a long heavy rail passenger train or rapid transit system. Narrowly defined, light rail transit uses rolling stock that is similar to that of a traditional tram, while operating at a higher capacity and speed, often on an exclusive right-of-way. In broader use, it includes tram-like operations mostly on streets. A few light rail networks have characteristics closer to rapid transit or even commuter rail , yet only when these systems are fully grade-separated are they referred to as light metros . The term light rail

2235-505: A major thoroughfare. The Metropolitan received rights to construct a double-track line on Huntington from Copley Square (where it connected to the existing Marlborough Street line) to West Chester Park (later renamed Massachusetts Avenue ) on March 18, 1881. The 0.7-mile (1.1 km) line opened by that September, serving the exhibitions at the Mechanics Hall and New England Fair Building . A 1.2-mile (1.9 km) extension along

2384-642: A more diverse range of design characteristics than LRT, depending on the demand and constraints that exist, and BRT using dedicated lanes can have a theoretical capacity of over 30,000 passengers per hour per direction (for example, the Guangzhou Bus Rapid Transit system operates up to 350 buses per hour per direction). For the effective operation of a bus or BRT system, buses must have priority at traffic lights and have their dedicated lanes, especially as bus frequencies exceed 30 buses per hour per direction. The higher theoretical of BRT relates to

2533-510: A more frequent route 47 instead extended to Union Square . On October 20, 1996, the Muddy River flooded the central subway . The E branch was replaced by buses; service was restored to Northeastern on October 25, Brigham Circle on November 9, and Heath Street on December 7. From July 24 to December 17, 2000, the line was cut back to Brigham Circle for track work on South Huntington Avenue, with route 39 supplemented by express service. In

2682-494: A new station added under Copley Square) or to the west. In October 1936, construction of the subway to just shy of West Newton Street was approved as a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Work was expected to last 1 year and cost $ 1.715 million, with the city's share about $ 539,000. The Boston City Council and Boston Elevated Railway approved the plans in April 1937. Construction began on September 18, 1937. In 1938,

2831-522: A passenger waiting room and space for 150 streetcars. The West End electrified its Huntington Avenue line in 1893–94. Work was completed by mid-July 1894 except for a short stretch near the Riverway . On August 4, all Brookline service via Huntington Avenue was converted to electric operation. This included the Washington Street branch (extended to Park Street), the Cypress Street branch, and

2980-407: A result, has many of the operating characteristics of a metro system rather than a light rail system. A capacity of 1,350 passengers per train is more similar to the heavy rail than light rail. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is an alternative to LRT and many planning studies undertake a comparison of each mode when considering appropriate investments in transit corridor development. BRT systems can exhibit

3129-536: A revised settlement resulted in the substitution of other projects with similar regional air quality benefits, though no longer localized along the E branch corridor. EOTC promised to consider other transit enhancements in the Arborway corridor. A 2004 study stated that since tracks to Arborway would be street-running along South and Centre streets, trolley traffic would increase local congestion and could potentially block emergency vehicles. Councilor John Tobin asked

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3278-521: A single Lechmere –Heath Street round trip was operating during the morning peak to serve school demand. This trip was the only time that three-car trains of PCC cars were used on Huntington Avenue. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) took over from the MTA in 1964. The MBTA gave color designations to the four subway lines in 1965, with the Tremont Street subway routes designated as

3427-534: A top speed of 55–71.5 miles per hour (88.51–115.1 km/h) depending on the system, while the trains on the all-underground Montreal Metro can only reach a top speed of 72 kilometres per hour (44.74 mph). LACMTA light rail vehicles have higher top and average speeds than Montreal Metro or New York City Subway trains. Many light rail systems—even fairly old ones—have a combination of both on- and off-road sections. In some countries (especially in Europe), only

3576-481: A tramway, a light metro, and, in a narrow sense, rapid transit. This is especially common in the United States, where there is not a popularly perceived distinction between these different types of urban rail systems. The development of technology for low-floor and catenary-free trams facilitates the construction of such mixed systems with only short and shallow underground sections below critical intersections as

3725-565: Is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology while also having some features from heavy rapid transit . The term was coined in 1972 in the United States as an English equivalent for the German word Stadtbahn , meaning "city railway". Different definitions exist in some countries, but in the United States, light rail operates primarily along exclusive rights-of-way and uses either individual tramcars or multiple units coupled together, with

3874-470: Is a generic international English phrase for types of rail systems using modern streetcars/trams, which means more or less the same thing throughout the English-speaking world . Light rail systems can range from trams runnig in streets along with other traffic, to semi-metro systems having portions of grade separated track. People movers are even "lighter", in terms of capacity. Monorail

4023-575: Is a separate technology that has been more successful in specialized services than in a commuter transit role. The use of the generic term light rail avoids some serious incompatibilities between British and American English . The word tram , for instance, is generally used in the UK and many former British colonies to refer to what is known in North America as a streetcar , but in North America tram can instead refer to an aerial tramway , or, in

4172-602: Is a significant amount of overlap between the technologies; similar rolling stock may be used for either, and it is common to classify streetcars or trams as a subcategory of light rail rather than as a distinct type of transportation. However, some distinctions can be made, though systems may combine elements of both. Low-floor light rail lines tend to follow a reserved right-of-way and with trains receiving priority at intersections, and tend not to operate in mixed traffic, enabling higher operating speeds. Light rail lines tend to have less frequent stops than tramways, and operate over

4321-563: Is by far the most expensive in the US, at $ 179 million per mile, since it includes extensive tunneling in poor soil conditions, elevated sections, and stations as deep as 180 feet (55 m) below ground level. This results in costs more typical of subways or rapid transit systems than light rail. At the other end of the scale, four systems (Baltimore, Maryland; Camden, New Jersey; Sacramento, California; and Salt Lake City, Utah) incurred construction costs of less than $ 20 million per mile. Over

4470-426: Is especially important for wheelchair access, as narrower gauges (e.g. metre gauge) can make it challenging or impossible to pass the tram's wheels. Furthermore, standard-gauge rolling stock can be switched between networks either temporarily or permanently, and both newly built and used standard-gauge rolling stock tends to be cheaper to buy, as more companies offer such vehicles. Overhead lines supply electricity to

4619-449: Is expensive. Similarly, the most expensive US highway expansion project was the " Big Dig " in Boston, Massachusetts, which cost $ 200 million per lane mile for a total cost of $ 14.6 billion. A light rail track can carry up to 20,000 people per hour as compared with 2,000–2,200 vehicles per hour for one freeway lane. For example, in Boston and San Francisco, light rail lines carry 9,600 and 13,100 passengers per hour, respectively, in

Green Line E branch - Misplaced Pages Continue

4768-575: Is hard to distinguish between what is called light rail, and other forms of urban and commuter rail. A system described as a light rail in one city may be considered to be a streetcar or tram system in another. Conversely, some lines that are called "light rail" are very similar to rapid transit ; in recent years, new terms such as light metro have been used to describe these medium-capacity systems. Some "light rail" systems, such as Sprinter , bear little similarity to urban rail, and could alternatively be classified as commuter rail or even inter-city rail. In

4917-559: Is impractical. Light metro systems are essentially hybrids of light rail and rapid transit. Metro trains are larger and faster than light rail trains, with stops being further apart. Many systems have mixed characteristics. Indeed, with proper engineering, a rail line could run along a street, then go underground, and then run along an elevated viaduct. For example, the Los Angeles Metro Rail 's A Line "light rail" has sections that could alternatively be described as

5066-484: Is one of the highest capacity ones, having been upgraded in a series of expansions to handle 40,000 passengers per hour per direction, and having carried as many as 582,989 passengers in a single day on its Line 1 . It achieves this volume by running four-car trains with a capacity of up to 1,350 passengers each at a frequency of up to 30 trains per hour. However, the Manila light rail system has full grade separation and as

5215-541: The 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (7.2 km)-long line was over an hour with a ten-cent fare. A two-track carhouse with a waiting room was located at the terminus of the line at Jamaica Street in Jamaica Plain. (The Metropolitan's main carhouse and barn was located at Roxbury Crossing.) In 1858, the Metropolitan opened a connector between Lowell Street and John Eliot Square, allowing Jamaica Plain cars to also use

5364-768: The Central Artery/Tunnel Project . In 2000, an Administrative Consent Order (ACO) affirmed specific project commitments, including restoration of streetcar service beyond Heath Street to Arborway. Restoration was also included in the State Implementation Plan for the Clean Air Act (SIP) which is required by the Environmental Protection Agency due to non-attainment of National Ambient Air Quality Standards . After some MBTA and community opposition,

5513-542: The Cádiz TramBahia , where trams share track with commuter and long-distance trains from the main terminus in the city and curve off to serve cities without a railway connection. Some of the issues involved in such schemes are: There is a history of what would now be considered light rail vehicles operating on heavy rail rapid transit tracks in the US, especially in the case of interurban streetcars . Notable examples are Lehigh Valley Transit trains running on

5662-595: The Green Line . On December 26, 1964, Heath Street– Government Center short turns using the newly opened loop at Government Center were added to accommodate ridership from the new Prudential Center .These trips were cut back to Park Street the next month, but returned to Government Center on March 25, 1967. On September 19, 1966, the Heath Street short turn was increased in frequency, with every other trip terminating at Heath Street during peak hours. This experiment

5811-746: The Lechmere Viaduct connected to the Green Line Extension viaduct. Original plans for the Green Line Extension called for the E branch to run to Union Square . However, in April 2021, the MBTA indicated that the E branch would instead be extended to Medford/Tufts, with the D branch running to Union Square. The D and E branches were chosen for the extension because they serve the Longwood Medical Area ;

5960-758: The London Underground and the New York City Subway . Conventional rail technologies including high-speed , freight, commuter , and rapid transit urban transit systems are considered "heavy rail". The main difference between light rail and heavy rail rapid transit is the ability for a light rail vehicle to operate in mixed traffic if the routing requires it. The world's first electric tram operated in Sestroretsk near Saint Petersburg , Russia , invented and operated on an experimental basis by Fyodor Pirotsky in 1880. The first tramway

6109-637: The Netherlands , this concept was first applied on the RijnGouweLijn . This allows commuters to ride directly into the city center, rather than taking a mainline train only as far as a central station and then having to change to a tram. In France, similar tram-trains are planned for Paris, Mulhouse , and Strasbourg ; further projects exist. In some cases, tram trains use previously abandoned or lightly used heavy rail lines in addition to or instead of still in use mainline tracks. In 2022, Spain opened

Green Line E branch - Misplaced Pages Continue

6258-874: The O-Train Trillium Line in Ottawa, Ontario , Canada, the River Line in New Jersey , United States, and the Sprinter in California , United States, which use diesel multiple unit (DMU) cars. Light rail is different from the British English term light railway , long-used to distinguish railway operations carried out under a less rigorous set of regulations using lighter equipment at lower speeds from mainline railways. Light rail

6407-703: The Philadelphia and Western Railroad high-speed third rail line (now the Norristown High-Speed Line ). Such arrangements are almost impossible now, due to the Federal Railroad Administration refusing (for crash safety reasons) to allow non-FRA compliant railcars (i.e., subway and light rail vehicles) to run on the same tracks at the same times as compliant railcars, which includes locomotives and standard railroad passenger and freight equipment. Notable exceptions in

6556-594: The Pill Hill area. (This may have been to compete with the Boston and Albany Railroad , which had begun its Newton Circuit service through Brookline in 1886.) In November 1887, the Metropolitan was merged into the West End Street Railway as it consolidated the various Boston street railways into a unified system. After the successful electrification of the Beacon Street line in 1888–89,

6705-582: The Southwest Corridor was rebuilt, with 2 Orange Line and 3 commuter rail tracks in a trench replacing a 4-track embankment. Trains last ran on the Elevated on April 30, 1987, and the relocated Orange Line opened on May 4, 1987. Even without the Elevated, Dudley Square remained a major bus transfer location. After several years, the former Elevated station was converted into a new bus station. The 784,000-pound (356,000 kg) station building

6854-628: The Tremont Street subway opened on September 1, 1897. Among the lines immediately routed into the subway using the Public Garden incline were the Cypress Street via Huntington Avenue and Jamaica Plain crosstown via Huntington Avenue lines. The southern subway section to the Pleasant Street incline opened on September 30, and Jamaica Plain cars via Tremont Street were routed into the subway. Reservoir service via Huntington Avenue

7003-530: The medians of roads . If run in streets , trains are usually limited by city block lengths to about four 180-passenger vehicles (720 passengers). Operating on two-minute headways using traffic signal progression, a well-designed two-track system can handle up to 30 trains per hour per track, achieving peak rates of over 20,000 passengers per hour in each direction. More advanced systems with separate rights-of-way using moving block signaling can exceed 25,000 passengers per hour per track. Most light rail systems in

7152-568: The 1920s, Jamaica Plain service was extended to Arborway , while the western branches were reconfigured; they were cut in the 1930s. The Huntington Avenue subway opened in 1941, cutting travel times through congested Copley Square. Ownership passed from the Boston Elevated Railway to the Metropolitan Transit Authority in 1947, and to the MBTA in 1964. Tremont Street subway service was designated as

7301-483: The 1950s, an additional Northeastern University –Park Street shuttle was run. Route 41 was replaced by buses on June 8, 1949. In 1954, route 57 was extended to the surface terminal at North Station . Route 57 - by then a weekday-only route - was discontinued effective September 1, 1961. The number was reassigned to the short-lived Boylston – Pleasant Street shuttle in November 1961. From September 1962 to March 1965,

7450-624: The 1970s was proven to have been a technical failure by the following decade. After World War II, the Germans retained many of their streetcar networks and evolved them into model light rail systems ( Stadtbahnen ). With the exception of Hamburg , all large and most medium-sized German cities maintain light rail networks. The concept of a "limited tramway" was proposed by American transport planner H. Dean Quinby in 1962. Quinby distinguished this new concept in rail transportation from historic streetcar or tram systems as: The term light rail transit

7599-554: The BERy began running South Huntington Avenue cars express over Huntington Avenue during the evening peak. The Longwood Avenue shuttle was converted to bus on June 22, 1925. Rarely shown on maps, it was discontinued in 1942 (after an abortive 1934 plan to run the Cypress Street–Kenmore bus over Longwood Avenue); not until the introduction of route 47 in 1972 was Longwood Avenue again used for transit. The Washington Street shuttle

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7748-607: The BERy indicated willingness to add express service to the South Huntington Avenue line, but could not extend the line until more cars were available. On June 12, 1915, the Hyde Park–Forest Hills line was extended to Jamaica Plain Carhouse, with the Forest Hills–North Station (via Columbus Avenue) route cut back to Jamaica Plain Carhouse; this change was to provide more frequent service between Forest Hills and

7897-486: The Boston Transit Department extended the project to Opera Place, with underground stations at Mechanics and Symphony and an auto underpass of Massachusetts Avenue adjacent to Symphony station. Federal approval was granted in early August. The subway was constructed as twin tubes some 4,316 feet (1,316 m) long; they were adjacent except at Symphony station, where they ran on opposite sides of

8046-616: The Boylston street Subway under Governors Square. The report, released in December 1926, called for the existing streetcar tunnels in Boston to be reorganized into two rapid transit lines with high-floor rolling stock. One line was to run from Lechmere through the existing Tremont Street subway, parallel the New Haven Railroad tracks towards Providence using tunnels and an embankment as far as Massachusetts Avenue, then run along

8195-446: The E branch was assigned to the longer Medford Branch because its western leg is shorter than that of the D branch. The Union Square Branch opened as part of the E branch on March 21, 2022. From August 6–20, 2022, the E branch was closed between Heath Street and Copley for track replacement and installation of a train protection system; Union Square was served by C and D branch trains. The section between Union Square and Government Center

8344-651: The E branch was formed from portions of several streetcar lines. The first of these was the West Roxbury Railroad, a horsecar line opened on November 14, 1857, in what was then West Roxbury . It ran from Roxbury Crossing to Jamaica Plain along Lowell Street (now Columbus Avenue), Centre Street, and South Street. The line was quickly leased by the Metropolitan Railroad , which operated through service between Jamaica Plain and downtown Boston using its line on Tremont Street . Travel time for

8493-495: The French city of Bordeaux , the tramway network is powered by a third rail in the city center, where the tracks are not always segregated from pedestrians and cars. The third rail (actually two closely spaced rails) is placed in the middle of the track and divided into eight-metre sections, each of which is powered only while it is completely covered by a tram. This minimizes the risk of a person or animal coming into contact with

8642-483: The Green Line in 1965, with the Huntington Avenue line becoming the E branch in 1967. Service was modified numerous times during the early MBTA era, including a major reconstruction of the line in 1980–82. In 1985, service past Brigham Circle was replaced with the route 39 bus – a "temporary" change that controversially became permanent, although service as far as Heath Street was restored in 1989 after replacement of

8791-475: The Green Line's Boylston station to eventually run a light rail line to, and likely beyond Nubian Square to the south. The new light rail service proposed in the 2012 review, to replace the rapid transit access the Elevated previously provided, could go from Nubian Square as far south as the Red Line's Mattapan station , with a northern turnaround terminus at Government Center . The MBTA plans to reconfigure

8940-610: The Green Line, though they remained in use on the Mattapan Line . LRV service was resumed to Brigham Circle on July 26, 1986; the downtown terminal was Lechmere on weekdays, and Government Center nights and weekends. On June 20, 1987, all Brigham Circle service was extended to Lechmere, with newer Type 7 LRVs replacing the Boeing LRVs. Heath Street service resumed on November 4, 1989, but route 39 buses continued to provide all service south of Heath Street. That December, route 39

9089-479: The Huntington Avenue subway. On January 1, all peak and midday service was cut to Heath Street as winter weather caused a car shortage; buses designated route 39 ran between Arborway and Copley. This ended on March 19; regular Heath Street turns were extended to North Station from then to June 18, 1977. Route 39 buses again replaced weekday service past Heath Street from June 18 to September 9 due to track work on Centre Street. Continued streetcar shortages and delays with

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9238-567: The Longwood Avenue branch ended on August 8, 1901; it became a Brookline Avenue–Huntington Avenue shuttle. On May 5, 1903, the Boston and Worcester Street Railway (B&W) began operations. It initially terminated at Chestnut Hill, but was extended over BERy tracks on Boylston Street and Huntington Avenue to Park Square on July 6. The Main Line Elevated opened between Dudley Square and Sullivan Square on June 10, 1901. The Main Line used

9387-761: The MBTA in late 2023. The City of Boston has proposed extending the E branch southward to Hyde Square in Jamaica Plain . Dedicated lanes were added on several streets in Boston during the August–September 2022 closure of the Orange Line . Four sections, all of which are used by route 39 buses, were made permanent: Boylston Street from Ring Road to Clarendon Street, Clarendon from Boylston to Columbus Avenue, St. James Avenue from near Berkeley Street to Dartmouth Street, and Huntington Avenue from Brigham Circle to Gainsborough Street (39 and 66 ). In September 2023,

9536-490: The MBTA indicated plans to modify the Heath Street–Brigham Circle section of the E branch with accessible platforms to replace the existing non-accessible stopping locations. Design work began in July 2023; as of June 2024, design is expected to be 15% complete in July 2024. The full project is expected to cost $ 86 million. [REDACTED] Media related to Green Line E branch at Wikimedia Commons Light rail Light rail (or light rail transit , abbreviated to LRT )

9685-467: The MBTA indicated that the Huntington Avenue lanes saved up to two minutes per trip at peak hours. In May 2022, the MBTA released a draft plan for a systemwide network redesign. The draft proposed that route 39 be extended to Porter via Central and Fenway , taking over portions of routes 47 , 91 , and 87 . The portion from Longwood Avenue to Back Bay would be discontinued. A November 2022 draft network plan reverted route 39 to its existing routing, with

9834-456: The MBTA to remove the tracks in March 2005, which by then had (along with the overhead poles) deteriorated to the point where they were not usable. The Arborway Committee filed suit in 2007, but an appeals court ruled in January 2011 that the lawsuit was a decade too late to be considered – effectively ending any attempt for the restoration of streetcar service for the foreseeable future. About 140 remaining overhead wire support poles were removed by

9983-483: The Tremont Street subway) were curtailed to Dudley, where two elevated loops offered cross-platform transfers to Main Line trains, using platforms on both sides of the northbound track. Other streetcars – largely on crosstown routes that did not terminate at Dudley – stopped at street-level platforms underneath the elevated station. On December 2, 1905, the Old Colony Street Railway began operating through service between Dudley and Quincy. The Washington Street Elevated

10132-419: The Tremont Street tracks to Roxbury Crossing. The Washington Street branch was extended to Beacon Street at Washington Square on September 1, allowing through service between Reservoir via Brookline Village. On August 15, 1896, an extension of the Beacon Street line opened on Chestnut Hill Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue to Lake Street . Reservoir service via Brookline Village was extended to Lake Street, where

10281-476: The US are the NJ Transit River Line from Camden to Trenton and Austin's Capital MetroRail , which have received exemptions to the provision that light rail operations occur only during daytime hours and Conrail freight service only at night, with several hours separating one operation from the other. The O-Train Trillium Line in Ottawa also has freight service at certain hours. With its mix of right-of-way types and train control technologies, LRT offers

10430-455: The US as a whole, excluding Seattle, new light rail construction costs average about $ 35 million per mile. By comparison, a freeway lane expansion typically costs $ 1.0 million to $ 8.5 million per lane mile for two directions, with an average of $ 2.3 million. However, freeways are frequently built in suburbs or rural areas, whereas light rail tends to be concentrated in urban areas, where right of way and property acquisition

10579-400: The United States and in North America . In Britain, modern light rail systems began to appear in the 1980s, starting with the Tyne and Wear Metro from 1980 and followed by the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in London in 1987, continuing into the 1990s including the establishment of the Manchester Metrolink in 1992 and the Sheffield Supertram from 1994. Due to varying definitions, it

10728-590: The United States are limited by demand rather than capacity (by and large, most American LRT systems carry fewer than 4,000 persons per hour per direction), but Boston's and San Francisco's light rail lines carry 9,600 and 13,100 passengers per hour per track during rush hour. Elsewhere in North America, the Calgary C-Train and Monterrey Metro have higher light rail ridership than Boston or San Francisco. Systems outside North America often have much higher passenger volumes. The Manila Light Rail Transit System

10877-472: The United States, "light rail" has become a catch-all term to describe a wide variety of passenger rail systems. Light rail corridors may constitute a fully segregated corridor, a dedicated right-of-way on a street, an on-street corridor shared with other traffic, a corridor shared with other public transport, or a corridor shared with pedestrians. The most difficult distinction to draw is that between low-floor light rail and streetcar or tram systems. There

11026-673: The Washington Street Elevated in 1987, which also closed the Dudley Square elevated station, prompted a 2012 review; the Roxbury-Dorchester-Mattapan Transit Needs Study , recommended for some form of proposed replacement rail service to access southern Metro Boston neighborhoods—one option being studied within this review would re-use the Tremont Street subway's now-unused southern Pleasant Street tunnel coming from

11175-498: The Washington Street Elevated to a southern terminal located at Dudley Square . Along with the rest of the Washington Street Elevated, Dudley Street Terminal was designed by Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. It featured a Beaux Arts -style waiting area, clad in copper with an internal arched structure. Like many BERy stations, Dudley Street Terminal was designed for efficient transfers between streetcars and subway trains. Many streetcar routes that had operated to downtown (some into

11324-503: The Washington Street Elevated was removed, the MBTA originally promised to run light rail service over its former route. After 15 years of debate and changing plans, the Washington Street section of the Silver Line bus rapid transit system opened on July 20, 2002. It ran between Dudley and Downtown Crossing , replacing the 49 bus (albeit with increased frequency and other rapid-transit-like features). On October 13, 2009, this service

11473-415: The Washington Street line (via Dudley Square ) to reach downtown. The railroad also rebuilt the Jamaica Plain line that year to accommodate heavier ridership, including the double-tracking of some portions. On August 1, 1859, the Metropolitan was granted permission to add a 1.6-mile (2.6 km)-long branch to School Street (northwest of Brookline Village ) along what was then called Washington Street. (It

11622-461: The West End quickly moved to electrify its entire system. The Jamaica Plain– Northern Depots line was concerted to electric operation on October 14, 1891, followed by other Tremont Street lines on October 22. The horsecar barn at Jamaica Plain was replaced with a new structure for the electric cars; in early 1901, it was in turn replaced by a 320-by-325-foot (98 m × 99 m) carhouse with

11771-415: The ability of buses to travel closer to each other than rail vehicles and their ability to overtake each other at designated locations allowing express services to bypass those that have stopped at stations. However, to achieve capacities this high, BRT station footprints need to be significantly larger than a typical LRT station. In terms of cost of operation, each bus vehicle requires a single driver, whereas

11920-462: The addition of a footbridge at Northeastern. The project faced opposition from the Museum of Fine Arts , which objected to the taking of a 10-foot (3.0 m)-wide strip of the museum's lawn. It was placed on hold in 1975 due to the ongoing recession . From September 11, 1976, to January 1, 1977, service was replaced with buses at night to allow installation of new lighting and electrical equipment in

12069-760: The adjacent Forest Hills Yard ) were approved by the city in June 1900. Construction did not begin until April 1902, and the connector opened on May 17. The Boston Elevated Railway opened tracks on the newly-laid-out South Huntington Avenue between Centre Street and Huntington Avenue on May 11, 1903, and began running Jamaica Plain–Park Street service via South, Centre, South Huntington, and Huntington. By March 1907, regular service on Huntington Avenue west of Massachusetts Avenue included cars from Jamaica Plain via South Huntington Avenue, Lake Street (with some Reservoir short turns) via Washington Street, Oak Square via Harvard Street, and Allston Carhouse via Harvard Street, all entering

12218-541: The branch was electrified (possibly owing to the deteriorated bridge over the Muddy River and the Highland branch , which was replaced in 1897–98); in September 1894, Brookline directed the West End to remove the Longwood Avenue tracks west of the town line. In 1894–96, the city paved Huntington Avenue as a boulevard , with the streetcar tracks moved into a dedicated median east of Brigham Circle. The first section of

12367-551: The carhouse. The change was unpopular with residents; on October 2, 1915, the Hyde Park line was cut back to Forest Hills and the Charles River line extended in its stead, establishing a direct connection between West Roxbury and the South Huntington Avenue line. On March 1, 1924, the BERy opened a streetcar transfer station inside Arborway Yard to relieve crowding at Forest Hills station . The South Huntington Avenue line

12516-866: The case of the Disney amusement parks , even a land train . (The usual British term for an aerial tramway is cable car , which in the US usually refers to a ground-level car pulled along by subterranean cables .) The word trolley is often used as a synonym for streetcar in the United States but is usually taken to mean a cart, particularly a shopping cart, in the UK and elsewhere. Many North American transportation planners reserve streetcar for traditional vehicles that operate exclusively in mixed traffic on city streets, while they use light rail to refer to more modern vehicles operating mostly in exclusive rights of way, since they may operate both side-by-side targeted at different passenger groups. The difference between British English and American English terminology arose in

12665-421: The closure of Glasgow Corporation Tramways (one of the largest in Europe) in 1962. Although some traditional trolley or tram systems continued to exist in San Francisco and elsewhere, the term "light rail" has come to mean a different type of rail system as modern light rail technology has primarily post-WWII West German origins. An attempt by Boeing Vertol to introduce a new American light rail vehicle in

12814-427: The closure. An additional monthlong closure between Heath Street and Brigham Circle took place August 2–29, 2021. The first phase of construction for accessibility modifications at Symphony station began in 2023, but the main phase was placed on hold in 2024 after bids came in higher than expected. On May 24, 2020, service was cut back from Lechmere to North Station to allow the old Lechmere Elevated to be demolished and

12963-411: The cut was quietly reversed by reducing frequency on the branch slightly, thus allowing the same equipment to cover the full line at no additional cost. This was made official with the December 29, 2012 timetable. From August 3–29, 2020, Prudential–Heath Street service was replaced by buses to allow for expedited track work. Seven grade crossings and 9,500 feet (2,900 m) of track were replaced during

13112-415: The day. This combination of factors limits roads carrying only automobile commuters to a maximum observed capacity of about 3,000 passengers per hour per lane. The problem can be mitigated by introducing high-occupancy vehicle ( HOV ) lanes and ride-sharing programs, but in most cases, policymakers have chosen to add more lanes to the roads, despite a small risk that in unfavorable situations an extension of

13261-755: The direct translation, which is city rail (the Norwegian term, by bane , means the same). However, UMTA finally adopted the term light rail instead. Light in this context is used in the sense of "intended for light loads and fast movement", rather than referring to physical weight. The infrastructure investment is also usually lighter than would be found for a heavy rail system. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), in its Glossary of Transit Terminology, defines light rail as: ...a mode of transit service (also called streetcar, tramway, or trolley) operating passenger rail cars singly (or in short, usually two-car or three-car, trains) on fixed rails in

13410-550: The early 2000s, the MBTA modified key surface stops with raised platforms for accessibility as part of the Light Rail Accessibility Program . Portable lifts were installed at Heath Street and Museum of Fine Arts around 2000 as a temporary measure. For much of mid-2002, buses replaced weekend service to allow for the station construction. The accessible platforms at Northeastern, Museum of Fine Arts, Longwood, Brigham Circle, and Heath Street - part of

13559-458: The late 19th century when Americans adopted the term "street railway", rather than "tramway", with the vehicles being called "streetcars" rather than "trams". Some have suggested that the Americans' preference for the term "street railway" at that time was influenced by German emigrants to the United States (who were more numerous than British immigrants in the industrialized Northeast), as it is

13708-524: The latter is described as light rail. In those places, trams running on mixed rights-of-way are not regarded as a light rail but considered distinctly as streetcars or trams. However, the requirement for saying that a rail line is "separated" can be quite low—sometimes just with concrete "buttons" to discourage automobile drivers from getting onto the tracks. Some systems such as Seattle's Link had on-road mixed sections but were closed to regular road traffic, with light rail vehicles and buses both operating along

13857-462: The light rail concept was the "Shaker Heights Rapid Transit" which started in the 1920s, was renovated in 1980-81 and is now part of RTA Rapid Transit . Many original tram and streetcar systems in the United Kingdom , United States , and elsewhere were decommissioned starting in the 1950s as subsidies for the car increased. Britain abandoned its tram systems, except for Blackpool , with

14006-567: The line as a quasi-rapid transit service. Brookline Village–Park Street service would operate with two-car trains of large center-entrance streetcars (three-car trains at peak hours); single-car shuttles would operate Jamaica Plain– Huntington and South Huntington and Lake Street–Brookline Village service. Jamaica Plain residents were strongly opposed to the forced transfer, causing the Elevated to revise its plans. Beginning on February 6, 1922, two-car trains were operated between Brookline Village (Cypress Street) and Park Street; Washington Street service

14155-401: The line for a brief period beginning on March 21, 2011. Service was cut to North Station from April 30 to November 4, 2011, as Science Park was renovated. As part of a series of service reductions due to a budget crisis, weekend service was cut to Brigham Circle on July 1, 2012. The cutback was unpopular with local residents, who considered it an unnecessary inconvenience. On October 13, 2012,

14304-505: The line for use by the new LRVs as part of other road and sewer work on Huntington Avenue. The MBTA work largely followed the plans proposed in the 1960s; the Northeastern footbridge was not included. The three previously proposed stops were cut along with Parker Street; the remaining stops at Brigham Circle, Longwood Medical Area , Museum-Ruggles , and Northeastern were rebuilt with wider and longer platforms. On March 21, 1980, service

14453-661: The line to return, while the MBTA did not wish to resume using the long street-running section. A 1987 study found that restoring service to Arborway would cost $ 37.4 million in construction and $ 5.9 million in annual operating costs, but would draw more riders than bus service. To settle a lawsuit with the Conservation Law Foundation , the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Construction (EOTC) agreed to environmental mitigation for increased automobile emissions due to

14602-793: The median of Huntington Avenue to Northeastern University , then into the Huntington Avenue subway. The line merges into the Boylston Street subway just west of Copley , running to North Station via the Tremont Street subway . It then follows the Lechmere Viaduct to Lechmere , then the Medford Branch to Medford/​Tufts . As of February 2023, service operates on eight-minute headways at weekday peak hours and eight to nine-minute headways at other times, using 13 to 17 trains (26 to 34 light rail vehicles). Horsecar service on Centre and South streets in Jamaica Plain began in 1857, followed by service on Tremont Street (part of which became

14751-424: The new Boeing LRVs caused weekday service to be replaced with buses past Heath Street on October 17, 1977. Service to Arborway resumed in stages, with full service restored on December 31, 1978. The new LRVs were first used on the line for Northeastern short turns on January 16, 1978; these were extended to Heath Street on April 24. Although the planned road widening never occurred, the MBTA ultimately reconstructed

14900-420: The newly-laid-out section of Huntington from West Chester Park to Brigham Circle was granted on October 29, 1883; its opening on October 1, 1884, completed a second Brookline–Boston route. A 1.2-mile (1.9 km) branch along Longwood Avenue to Coolidge Corner opened around late 1884. Around 1888, a 0.8-mile (1.3 km) branch was opened west from Brookline Village on Boylston Street and Cypress Street, serving

15049-465: The old and new systems. Since the 1980s, Portland, Oregon , has built all three types of system: a high-capacity light rail system in dedicated lanes and rights-of-way, a low-capacity streetcar system integrated with street traffic, and an aerial tram system . The opposite phrase heavy rail , used for higher-capacity, higher-speed systems, also avoids some incompatibilities in terminology between British and American English, for instance in comparing

15198-482: The outer tracks of the Tremont Street subway (the Pleasant Street incline tracks) and provided a significantly faster route to downtown that surface streetcars, prompting a rearrangement of the streetcar network. Jamaica Plain service was rerouted to the Dudley Square transfer station; a new Dudley–Brookline route was introduced soon after. Tracks on South Street between Jamaica Plain and Forest Hills Square (and

15347-482: The peak direction during rush hour. Nubian station The original Dudley Square station opened in 1901 as a BERy Main Line Elevated station. The last segment of the original Main Line Elevated, the Washington Street Elevated (including Dudley station), closed in 1987; six years later, Dudley was converted into its modern configuration. Silver Line service began in 2002. The station

15496-568: The portion east of Copley Square would have duplicated the existing subways at considerable cost, and it would not relieve congestion at the intersection with Massachusetts Avenue; the state act did not allow for any modifications to the route. Mayor James Michael Curley advanced a new plan in 1933, calling for an $ 8.5 million subway from Copley Square to Longwood Avenue, to be funded by the National Industrial Recovery Act rather than imposing local debt. In July 1933,

15645-401: The project) at the remaining five. The long siding would be moved inside the reservation, and fencing would be placed between the tracks to deter pedestrians from crossing the tracks away from intersections. The project was stalled in 1969 by federal budget cuts . In 1971, the MBTA replaced both tracks between Brigham Circle and Parker Hill Street . The widening project was revived in 1972, with

15794-464: The reopening of Symphony. Heath Street service was extended to Lechmere on January 2, 1983. A snowstorm on February 11 temporarily shut down the Arborway Line; a Lechmere–Government Center shuttle was run to replace the Heath Street cars. The Arborway Line quickly reopened, but the Heath Street turns were not resumed; the shuttle ran until March 26. From October 12 to November 11, 1983, the line

15943-556: The required clearance height can be reduced significantly compared to conventional light rail vehicles. Reference speed from major light rail systems, including station stop time, is shown below. However, low top speed is not always a differentiating characteristic between light rail and other systems. For example, the Siemens S70 LRVs used in the Houston METRORail and other North American LRT systems have

16092-432: The right-of-way that is often separated from other traffic for part or much of the way. Light rail vehicles are typically driven electrically with power being drawn from an overhead electric line via a trolley [pole] or a pantograph ; driven by an operator onboard the vehicle; and may have either high platform loading or low-level boarding using steps." However, some diesel-powered transit is designated light rail, such as

16241-415: The road network might lead to increased travel times ( Downs–Thomson paradox , Braess's paradox ). By contrast, light rail vehicles can travel in multi-car trains carrying a theoretical ridership up to 20,000 passengers per hour in much narrower rights-of-way , not much more than two car lanes wide for a double track system. They can often be run through existing city streets and parks , or placed in

16390-401: The roads. Typically roadways have 1,900 passenger cars per lane per hour (pcplph). If only cars are allowed, the capacity will be less and will not increase when the traffic volume increases. When there is a bus driving on this route, the capacity of the lane will be higher and will increase when the traffic level increases. And because the capacity of a light rail system is higher than that of

16539-618: The same as the German term for the mode, Straßenbahn (meaning "street railway"). A further difference arose because, while Britain abandoned all of its trams after World War II except in Blackpool , eight major North American cities ( Toronto , Boston , Philadelphia , San Francisco , Pittsburgh , Newark , Cleveland , and New Orleans ) continued to operate large streetcar systems. When these cities upgraded to new technology, they called it light rail to differentiate it from their existing streetcars since some continued to operate both

16688-629: The shuttle. On November 30, 1908, Main Line trains were rerouted into the Washington Street Tunnel; the outer Tremont Street subway tracks and the Pleasant Street Incline reopened to streetcars on December 4, with some lines extended or rerouted from Dudley. Streetcars entering the subway on Boylston Street continued to loop at Park Street; those entering at Pleasant Street (including lines from Brookline via Tremont Street, and Jamaica Plain via Roxbury Crossing) exited

16837-406: The south and some streetcar routes diverted there. As streetcar routes were bustituted during the 1940s and 1950s, the streetcar platforms were modified for use by buses and trackless trolleys . The east loop was completely rebuilt over a six-month period for trolleybus operations, reopening on December 25, 1948. The Main Line Elevated was renamed the Orange Line in 1967. From 1979 to 1987,

16986-408: The standard gauge is that standard railway maintenance equipment can be used on it, rather than custom-built machinery. Using standard gauges also allows light rail vehicles to be conveniently moved around using the same tracks as freight railways. Additionally, wider gauges (e.g. standard gauge) provide more floor clearance on low-floor trams that have constricted pedestrian areas at the wheels, which

17135-430: The state legislature provided conditions for the construction of the subway with more route flexibility. It was approved by the city and the BERy, but not by the state Emergency Finance Board. The Boston Transit Department developed six possible tunnel plans for evaluation. A tunnel as far west as Longwood Avenue or as short as Dartmouth Street was considered, as splitting from the existing subway east of Copley station (with

17284-482: The street trackage on Huntington Ave. The downtown terminal of the E branch underwent a number of changes during the MBTA era; from 1987 to 2020, it was usually Lechmere. In May 2020, the E branch was cut back to North Station for construction of the Green Line Extension , as part of which it was temporarily extended to Union Square in March 2022. It was permanently extended to Medford/Tufts in December 2022. What became

17433-557: The subway and looping at Park Street; as well as Cypress Street–Dudley cars and B&W cars. (A number of additional routes continued to use Huntington Avenue east of Massachusetts Avenue.) Additional routes used the tracks on South Street and Center Street in Jamaica Plain, including Forest Hills–Park Street (via Columbus Avenue), Jamaica Plain Carhouse–Dudley, and Jamaica Plain– Sullivan Square . Some Allston–Park Street cars were rerouted over Longwood Avenue on October 12, 1907, replacing

17582-487: The subway at Canal Street and looped at North Station . The Washington Street Elevated was extended to Forest Hills on November 22, 1909, increasing its prominence as a transfer location. Requests from local residents and politicians to extend the South Huntington Avenue line from Jamaica Plain Carhouse to Forest Hills began before the extension was completed and continued throughout the 1910s. Free transfers at Jamaica Plain Carhouse were added on March 1, 1913. That April,

17731-520: The subway via Huntington Avenue. The Ipswich Street line provided an additional route between Brookline Village and the subway; service on that line initially ran to Cypress Street. Service using the Ipswich Street line was extended west on Boylston Street from Cypress Street to Chestnut Hill Avenue on September 29, 1900, and to the Newton line at Chestnut Hill on November 19. Through service on

17880-555: The subway west to Kenmore Square . Huntington Avenue and Ipswich Street service began using a portal in the median of Boylston Street, which replaced the Public Garden Incline. The outer terminal of Washington Street service was cut to Washington Square except at rush hours as part of the October 3 changes, and the peak-hour terminal was cut to Reservoir on November 21. Oak Square–Park Street service via Huntington Avenue

18029-463: The surface on Huntington Avenue to Francis Street ( Brigham Circle ). The extension would have new stations at Pleasant Street , Back Bay station , West Newton Street, and Massachusetts Avenue , plus consolidated surface stops at the Museum of Fine Arts and the Longwood Medical Area . Streetcar lines on Tremont Street and Huntington Avenue would connect with rapid transit trains at a surface-level transfer station at Brigham Circle. Future extension of

18178-551: The system was a success with the public, gaining up to 190,000 passengers per day. Automatic train operation is employed on light rail networks, tracking the position and speed of a train and hence adjusting its movement for safety and efficiency. One line of light rail (requires 7.6 m, 25' right of way) has a theoretical capacity of up to 8 times more than one 3.7 m (12 foot) lane on a freeway, excluding busses, during peak times. Roads have ultimate capacity limits that can be determined by traffic engineering , and usually experience

18327-503: The trams, making it safe on city streets. Several systems in Europe and a few recently opened systems in North America use diesel -powered trains. When electric streetcars were introduced in the late 19th century, conduit current collection was one of the first ways of supplying power, but it proved to be much more expensive, complicated, and trouble-prone than overhead wires . When electric street railways became ubiquitous, conduit power

18476-619: The tunnel to Brookline Village was considered. After the Berkeley Street line was closed around 1930, only Huntington Avenue cars used the Boylston Street Incline. In June 1932, the state legislature authorized the construction of a tunnel from Gainsborough Street under Huntington Avenue, Stuart Street, Columbus Avenue, and the Boston Common to Park Street station. The BERy did not approve the project because

18625-566: The underpass. The final cost of the project was $ 7.13 million (equivalent to $ 114 million in 2023), of which the city paid $ 1.93 million and the federal government $ 5.20 million. It was the second-largest project to be primarily funded by the WPA, exceeded only by LaGuardia Airport . The Huntington Avenue subway opened on February 16, 1941, taking Huntington Avenue cars (the last to use the Boylston Street Portal) underground for

18774-460: The vast majority of light rail systems. This avoids the danger potentially presented by an electrified third rail . The Docklands Light Railway uses an inverted third rail for its electrical power, which allows the electrified rail to be covered and the power drawn from the underside. Trams in Bordeaux , France, use a special third-rail configuration where the power is only switched on beneath

18923-529: The west part of Huntington Avenue) to Brookline Village in 1859 and on the east part of Huntington Avenue in 1881–84. Jamaica Plain service was electrified in 1891, and Huntington Avenue service in 1894. Several branches of the Huntington Avenue line were opened west of Brookline Village between 1894 and 1900; both Huntington Avenue and Jamaica Plain service began using the new Tremont Street subway in 1897. A connector on South Huntington Avenue opened in 1903, allowing service to Jamaica Plain via Huntington Avenue. In

19072-434: The widest range of latitude of any rail system in the design, engineering, and operating practices. The challenge in designing light rail systems is to realize the potential of LRT to provide fast, comfortable service while avoiding the tendency to overdesign that results in excessive capital costs beyond what is necessary to meet the public's needs. The BART railcar in the following chart is not generally considered to be

19221-544: Was a proposed stop on the Urban Ring – a circumferential bus rapid transit (BRT) line designed to connect the existing radial MBTA rail lines to reduce overcrowding in the downtown stations. Under draft plans released in 2008, a spur of the Urban Ring would have run on Washington Street from Melnea Cass Boulevard, using the existing Silver Line platforms at Dudley. The project was cancelled in 2010. The closing of

19370-571: Was added to the subway on November 8. Longwood Avenue cars and Lake Street via Huntington Avenue cars soon used the subway as well. Other early services also used Huntington Avenue east of Massachusetts Avenue, including a Forest Hills–Park Street route via Washington Street (introduced on November 1, 1898) and a Humboldt Avenue–East Boston Ferries route. Two connecting routes opened in August 1900. New tracks on Harvard Street from Brookline Village to Coolidge Corner allowed through service from Allston to

19519-518: Was closed from August 22 to September 18, 2022, to allow for final integration of the Medford Branch, elimination of a speed restriction on the Lechmere Viaduct, and other work. After the closure, both D and E trains served Union Square. On November 1, 2022, Lechmere became the terminal for E branch service, with trains continuing out-of-service to Medford/Tufts as test trains. Medford Branch revenue service began on December 12, 2022. In 2021,

19668-543: Was coined in 1972 by the U.S. Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA; the precursor to the Federal Transit Administration ) to describe new streetcar transformations that were taking place in Europe and the United States. In Germany, the term Stadtbahn (to be distinguished from S-Bahn , which stands for Stadtschnellbahn ) was used to describe the concept, and many in UMTA wanted to adopt

19817-614: Was converted to bus on April 24, 1926. It was redirected to Brighton Center on June 23, 1928, and eventually became route 65 . The rails were removed for scrap during World War II. In the 1930s, the Worcester Turnpike was paved as Massachusetts Route 9 , an intercity highway, which forced the removal of streetcars. Buses replaced Boston and Worcester Street Railway cars on June 11, 1932. That November, paving reached Chestnut Hill; Huntington Avenue cars were cut back to Cypress Street and Ipswich Street cars to Brookline Village, and

19966-410: Was cut back to Brigham Circle (with double-ended LRVs) due to Southwest Corridor construction near Arborway, with route 39 buses running. Heath Street short turns were resumed on September 18, 1984, using LRVs. On December 28, 1985, the Arborway Line was indefinitely replaced by route 39 (Arborway– Copley ) bus service due to road construction on Huntington Avenue. This ended PCC streetcar service on

20115-426: Was cut back to Allston–Park Street on January 30, 1915, and a Cypress Street–Park Street line via Longwood Avenue was added. Washington Street service was re-extended to Lake Street on November 6, 1915, as Beacon Street service was cut to Reservoir. By 1921, four subway services operated on Huntington Avenue: Lake Street, Jamaica Plain, Longwood, and Opera Place short turns. That November, the BERy proposed to operate

20264-498: Was cut back to a Symphony–Park Street shuttle (run by LRVs) to allow for construction, with route 39 buses again operating. The shuttle was extended to Northeastern on June 21 and Brigham Circle on September 20. Symphony was closed on January 3, 1981, during a budget crisis. Service restoration on the outer section of the line, originally scheduled for 1981, was delayed by the budget issues. Arborway service ultimately resumed on June 26, 1982, including peak-hour Heath Street short turns and

20413-410: Was extended south to Forest Hills on November 22, 1909. The loop allowing trains to return downtown from Dudley was kept (as some trains were short-turned at Dudley), and a new southbound platform was added. In 1910, the elevated streetcar loops were expanded and roofed to handle larger-than-expected crowds. Dudley quickly became overcrowded; in 1917, a streetcar transfer area was built at Egleston to

20562-642: Was extended to Back Bay station to connect with the Orange Line ; fares were reduced from subway to bus prices. By 1990, the Centre Street/South Huntington Avenue corridor was the single busiest MBTA bus corridor, with 19,040 daily riders on route 39. From 2000 to 2017, buses used a loop - originally built for the Green Line, but never used by revenue trains - at Forest Hills . Whether to restore E branch service to Arborway became controversial; much of Jamaica Plain wanted

20711-677: Was introduced in North America in 1972 to describe this new concept of rail transportation. Prior to that time the abbreviation "LRT" was used for " Light Rapid Transit " and " Light Rail Rapid Transit ". The first of the new light rail systems in North America began operation in 1978 when the Canadian city of Edmonton, Alberta , adopted the German Siemens-Duewag U2 system, followed three years later by Calgary, Alberta , and San Diego, California . The concept proved popular, with there now being numerous light rail systems in

20860-418: Was lowered 12 feet (3.7 m) to the ground and rolled 180 feet (55 m) to the south. The original station building covers north–south oriented bus platforms A, B, and C; new shelters in a similar style were built for east–west platforms D, E, and F. When completed in late 1993, the new Dudley Square bus station served over 10,000 daily passengers, with over 100 buses per hour stopping at peak times. When

21009-556: Was operated as a Brookline Village–Lake Street shuttle. Jamaica Plain service was not changed. Francis Street–Park Street short turns ran from October 20, 1926, to June 27, 1932, and were resumed on June 25, 1934. On June 13, 1925, Ipswich Street service was cut to Massachusetts –Chestnut Hill, which ended direct service between Chestnut Hill and downtown Boston. In March 1926, the Huntington Avenue and Ipswich Street lines swapped outer terminals, with Huntington Avenue trains running to Chestnut Hill to restore direct service. In December 1928,

21158-499: Was re-designated the SL5; a new SL4 service was added between Dudley and South Station , sharing most of the route of the SL4. With the December 2019 renaming of Dudley Square to Nubian Square, community leaders stated they would seek to have the station renamed. In February 2020, the MBTA agreed to rename the station to Nubian Square. The renaming took effect in June 2020. Dudley Square

21307-641: Was renamed Nubian in June 2020, following the 2019 renaming of the square. Nubian is a contributing property in the Dudley Station Historic District , which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The Boston Elevated Railway opened its Main Line Elevated on June 10, 1901. The line ran from Sullivan Square on the Charlestown Elevated, through the Tremont Street subway , and on

21456-540: Was replaced by buses on September 10, 1938, with the Brookline Village cars from Huntington Avenue cut back as additional Brigham Circle short turns . The city immediately demolished the Brookline Village transfer station to speed traffic flow through the square. A subway for the Huntington Avenue line was proposed as early as 1906 to remove streetcars from congested Boylston Street and Copley Square. (Streetcars operated in mixed traffic on those segments, with

21605-475: Was soon extended to Arborway, improving connections with the other lines. Beginning on January 25, 1913, both Allston–Brookline Village–Park Street lines were extended to North Station, providing through service between the Back Bay and North Station. On May 24, 1914, the BERy began operating a Allston–Dudley crosstown line via Brookline Village. The Boylston Street subway opened on October 3, 1914, extending

21754-490: Was soon renamed as Tremont Street east of Brookline Village; the portion between Brigham Circle and Brookline Village was renamed again as part of Huntington Avenue in 1895.) The line opened on October 26, 1859. Permission to double-track the line was given on September 9, 1879. The portion west of Brookline Village may have been intermittently operated. As the west part of the Back Bay was filled, Huntington Avenue became

21903-632: Was the Gross-Lichterfelde tramway in Lichterfelde near Berlin in Germany, which opened in 1881. It was built by Werner von Siemens who contacted Pirotsky. It initially drew current from the rails, with overhead wire being installed in 1883. The first interurban to emerge in the United States was the Newark and Granville Street Railway in Ohio, which opened in 1889. An early example of

22052-507: Was unsuccessful and was ended on November 7. The Heath Street short turns were reduced from two-car trains to single cars on January 3, 1972. The five Green Line branches were lettered in 1967, with the Huntington Avenue line designated the E branch. In 1968, the city and the MBTA began planning a widening of Huntington Avenue east of Brigham Circle. Three of the eight stops (Forsyth Street, Vancouver Street, and Wigglesworth Street) would be closed, with platforms widened (the original impetus for

22201-527: Was used in those cities that did not permit overhead wires. In Europe, it was used in London, Paris, Berlin, Marseille, Budapest, and Prague. In the United States, it was used in parts of New York City and Washington, D.C. Third rail technology was investigated for use on the Gold Coast of Australia for the G:link light rail, though power from overhead lines was ultimately utilized for that system. In

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