Boston-area streetcar lines/old

As in many large cities, a large number of streetcar lines once existed in Boston, Massachusetts, USA and its inner suburbs. Only a few remain, namely the four branches of the Green Line and the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line, with only one (the Green Line E branch) running regular service on an undivided street.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was formed on August 3, 1964, taking over operations from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). At that time, only the following streetcar and rapid transit lines still operated:
*1 Harvard-Ashmont, renamed the Red Line on August 26, 1965
*2 Everett-Forest Hills, renamed the Orange Line on August 26, 1965
*3 Wonderland-Bowdoin, renamed the Blue Line on August 26, 1965
*4 Riverside-Lechmere, renamed the Green Line "D" Branch on August 26, 1965
*28 Mattapan-Ashmont, renamed the Red Line Mattapan line on August 26, 1965
*39 Arborway-Park Street, renamed the Green Line "E" Branch on August 26, 1965
*57 Heath Street-North Station, renamed the Green Line "E" Branch (short-turn trips) on August 26, 1965
*61 Cleveland Circle-North Station, renamed the Green Line "C" Branch on August 26, 1965
*62 Boston College-Government Center, renamed the Green Line "B" Branch on August 26, 1965
*69 Watertown-Park Street, renamed the Green Line "A" Branch on August 26, 1965

Since then, Green Line "E" service to Arborway has been replaced by the 39 bus, and Green Line "A" service has been replaced by the 57 bus.

Older routes

Prior to that, the following streetcar lines existed; this list is only complete from 1953 on. All lines were connected via trackage to the Tremont Street Subway (Green Line), but only the 9 and 43 actually operated in the subway.

7

See MBTABus|7.

9

See MBTABus|9.

10

See MBTABus|10.

29

The 29 Mattapan-Egleston via Blue Hill Avenue and Seaver Street ran from Mattapan north on Blue Hill Avenue and Seaver Street (both parts of Route 28) to Egleston. Streetcars last operated on September 9, 1955, and buses began the next day.

In May 1987, the Orange Line was relocated, and the 29 was extended from Egleston to Jackson Square; some off-peak service extends to Ruggles. The route is now the 29 Mattapan-Jackson Square via Blue Hill Avenue and Seaver Street, with extended service as the 29 Mattapan-Ruggles via Blue Hill Avenue, Seaver Street and Jackson Square.

30

The 30 Mattapan-Roslindale via Cummins Highway ran from Mattapan along Cummins Highway to Roslindale Square. Streetcars last operated on April 24, 1953, and buses began the next day.

Since 1995, the MBTA has been extending an increasing number of trips to Forest Hills; now only Sunday trips still end at Roslindale. Forest Hills trips are thus 30 Mattapan-Forest Hills via Roslindale Square and Cummins Highway.

40

The short 40 Arborway-Egleston via Washington Street ran under the Washington Street Elevated between Egleston and Forest Hills, with streetcars last running December 17, 1955 and buses beginning the next day. The route was discontinued in June 1971, and in April 1981 the 42 was extended to cover the former 40 route.

43

The 43 North Station-Egleston via Tremont Street was one of two routes to use the Pleasant Street Incline. Before December 5, 1953, when the 9 operated into the same incline, the 43 used the two west tracks. Afterwards, it was realigned to use the two east tracks, allowing for a larger bus transfer area to the west.

The 43 came out of the portal and used Tremont Street and Columbus Avenue to Egleston. The tracks south of the loop at Lenox Street were last used on June 14, 1956, and the next day Route 43 buses started running from Lenox Street south to Egleston. The rest of the surface tracks were last used November 17, 1961, and the bus route was extended to the portal, where a short-lived subway shuttle connected to Boylston. At the same time, the route was extended on the surface to Boylston.

In February 1966, the buses were removed from Boylston Street, but they were extended around the Boston Common in June 1972. In May 1987, the south end was truncated from Egleston to the new Ruggles station, forming the current 43 Ruggles Station-Park & Tremont via Tremont.

47

The 47 Massachusetts Station-Dudley was a short route, beginning at Massachusetts Avenue station (now Hynes/ICA) and running south along Massachusetts Avenue, southwest one block on Columbus Avenue, southeast on Northampton Street and southwest on Washington Street to Dudley. Streetcars last operated September 12, 1953, with buses running the next day.

In September 1962, the route was merged with the 76 Harvard-Massachusetts Station to form the 1 Harvard-Dudley via Massachusetts Avenue. The old 47 service has since been slightly rerouted.

71

See MBTABus|71.

72

See MBTABus|72.

73

See MBTABus|73.

77

The 79 Arlington Heights-Harvard via Massachusetts Avenue ran between Arlington Heights and the Harvard Bus Tunnel via Massachusetts Avenue. Streetcars last ran November 18, 1955, buses began running the next day, and it was renumbered to the 77 Arlington Heights-Harvard via Massachusetts Avenue in the late 1960s.

77A

See MBTABus|77A.

92

The 92 Sullivan-Scollay Square via Main line ran from Sullivan south on Main Street under the Charlestown Elevated (using Park Street and Warren Street northbound near City Square), then over the Charlestown Bridge, west on Causeway Street, and into the Tremont Street Subway via the Causeway Street Incline, turning around at the Brattle Loop at Scollay. Streetcars last ran on April 2, 1948, but the tracks were kept until 1962 to access the 100 tracks and Everett Shops.

Bus service on the 92 Sullivan-Haymarket via Main began April 3, 1948, and has changed very little. Aside from a few realignments near City Square in Charlestown, and an extension to Assembly Square Mall in June 1982, the only real change has been the extension of early morning weekday service to Downtown Crossing in December 2002, operating as 92 Assembly Square Mall-Downtown via Main (normal service is 92 Assembly Square Mall-Haymarket via Sullivan and Main).

93

The 93 Sullivan-Scollay Square via Bunker Hill Street line was a variant of the 92, using Bunker Hill Street and Chelsea Street in Charlestown. Streetcars last ran July 1, 1949, and the 93 Sullivan-Haymarket via Bunker Hill Street bus route began operation the next day, using Washington Street between the Charlestown Bridge and Haymarket. Due to the construction of the Tobin Bridge, which opened in 1950, the route in Charlestown was immediately realigned. Not much has changed since then, except in June 2004, when early morning weekday trips were extended to Downtown Crossing as the 93 Sullivan-Downtown via Bunker Hill Street.

100

The 100 Elm Street-Sullivan via Fellsway streetcar line last operated on December 16, 1955, running between Elm Street on Fellsway West in Medford and Sullivan, and was bustituted the next day. When the new Wellington station opened in September 1975, the route was rerouted east on Revere Beach Parkway to terminate there; the 100 now operates as Elm Street-Wellington via Fellsway.

The tracks used to continue north, owned by the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway, and later became the 100A bus.

Track connections to the rest of the system were provided by the otherwise unused streetcar tracks under the Charlestown Elevated from Sullivan south to the Causeway Street Incline, once used by the 92.

Eastern Massachusetts routes

These routes were operated by the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway. They were only given numbers on March 30, 1968, when the MBTA took over, and long after buses replaced them. The numbers refer to the later bus routes.

Only two lines were left in 1937.

100A

This streetcar line ran between Stoneham and Sullivan Square, via the tracks of the 100. It ran from the north end of the 100 through the Middlesex Fells on a private right-of-way west of Fellsway West, and then to Stoneham center. Until around 1940, it continued north to Farm Hill on the Stoneham Branch Railroad.

The line was bustituted in 1946. In 1968 the MBTA took it over as the 430, and from March 1969 to the end of its service in September 1971, it was the 100A Reading-Sullivan via Main Street and Fellsway.

Quincy routes

Two Quincy routes left Fields Corner on Adams Street and Neponset Avenue, running to Quincy center and then splitting. One line continued to Hough's Neck, and the other to Quincy Point and the Fore River Shipyard. The lines were bustituted in 1948.

References

* [http://members.aol.com/eddanamta/busfiles/contents.pdf Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA District 1964-Present] (PDF)
*m00209, [http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.railroad/msg/89d182695f2550e5?hl=en MBTA Green Line -- unused tunnel at Boylston station] , rec.railroad May 5, 1994