Needham Line

NEEDHAM LINE
A Needham Line train at Forest Hills station in 2007
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	MBTA Commuter Rail
Locale	Greater Boston
Termini	Needham Heights South Station
Stations	12
Daily ridership	6,972 (2013 weekday average boardings)[1]
Operation
Owner	MBTA
Operator(s)	Keolis North America
Technical
Line length	9.3 miles (15.0 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map South Station Fairmount, Greenbush, and Old Colony Lines Back Bay Framingham/Worcester Line Ruggles Forest Hills Providence/Stoughton Line and Franklin Line Roslindale Village Bellevue Highland West Roxbury Hersey Needham Junction Millis Branch (closed 1967) Needham Center Needham Heights

The Needham Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running west from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, and the town of Needham. The second-shortest line of the system at just 13.7 miles long, it carries 8,218 daily riders.^[1] Unlike the other MBTA Commuter Rail lines, the Needham Line is not a former intercity mainline; instead, it is formed from several former branch lines.

History

Needham Center station in 1904

Highland station in 1904

Highland station in 2012 with its 1980s-built mini-high platform

The line from Forest Hills to West Roxbury was built around 1835 as part of the Dedham Branch of the Boston and Providence Rail Road. The Charles River Branch Railroad opened from Brookline Village to Newton Upper Falls in 1852, and to approximately Needham Center in 1853. The line was used to haul gravel from Needham quarries to fill in the Back Bay from 1858 to the 1880s.^[2] Around 1870, the line was extended southwest to Woonsocket, Rhode Island. In 1886, the Boston and Albany Railroad extended the original Charles River Branch Railroad line from Cook Junction to its main line at Riverside, forming the complete Highland Branch.

The Needham Cutoff opened on November 4, 1906 from West Roxbury to Needham Junction, allowing trains from the former New York and New England Railroad to reach Boston without needing to use the Highland Branch.^[3] Building the cutoff required a significant length of difficult rock cuts - "one of the heaviest pieces of short railroad construction ever attempted in New England" - reaching a depth of 57 feet (17 m) at Great Plain Avenue.^[4] Originally Needham Junction was the only stop on the cutoff; Bird's Hill opened as an infill station in 1917.^[3]

The segment from West Roxbury to Dedham was subsequently abandoned; the segment from Needham Junction to Cook Junction saw reduced passenger service. Loop service began operating over the Cutoff and the Highland Branch via Needham around 1911.

The remaining line was purchased by the MBTA from Penn Central on January 27, 1973, along with most of the other southside lines.^[5] The commuter rail stop at Forest Hills, not used since 1940 as the adjacent Washington Street Elevated provided more frequent service, was reopened in June 1973.^[5]

When the plans to replace the Elevated were drawn up in the 1960s, the new Orange Line was planned to continue past Forest Hills to Needham Heights, replacing the Needham Line. However, as the project was stalled over the next few decades, funding was found only to complete the replacement portion to Forest Hills in 1987, and so the Needham Line was kept as a locomotive-hauled commuter service. During Southwest Corridor construction from 1979 to 1987, the line was closed.^[5]

Historically, the line has had Saturday service but not Sunday service. Experimental Sunday service was operated from July 11, 1992 until February 14, 1993 along with other new southside weekend service, some of which was made permanent. As part of systemwide service cuts due to budget shortfalls, Saturday service was eliminated on July 7, 2012.^[5]

$300,000 in funding for Saturday service restoration was included in the state's 2015 budget as early as August 2014.^[6] On October 7, 2014, the MBTA announced the return of Saturday service on the Needham Line, as well as weekend service on the Greenbush Line and Plymouth/Kingston Line. The restored weekend service began on December 27, 2014.^[7]

Station List

Miles[1]	Zone fare	City	Station	Opening date	Connections and notes
0.0	1A	Boston	South Station	1899	MBTA: Red Line subway; all south side Commuter Rail lines; 4, 7, 11, 448, 449, and 459 buses Amtrak: Acela Express, Lake Shore Limited, and Northeast Regional
1.2	1A		Back Bay	1899	MBTA: Orange Line subway; Providence/Stoughton Line and Franklin Line; 10, 39, and 170 buses Amtrak: Acela Express, Lake Shore Limited, and Northeast Regional
2.2	1A		Ruggles	May 4, 1987	MBTA: Orange Line subway; Providence/Stoughton Line and Franklin Line Ruggles also serves as a major bus terminal, with connections to 13 MBTA Bus routes: 8, 15, 19, 22, 23, 28, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, CT2, CT3
5.0	1A		Forest Hills	1909	Orange Line subway Forest Hills serves as a major bus transfer station; 18 MBTA Bus routes terminate at the station on three separate busways: 16, 21, 30, 31, 32, 34, 34E, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 50, 51
6.4	1		Roslindale Village	c. 1835	MBTA Bus: 14, 30, 35, 36, 37, 51
7.2	1		Bellevue	c. 1835	MBTA Bus: 35, 36, 37, 38,
7.6	1		Highland	c. 1835	MBTA Bus: 35, 36, 37
8.0	1		West Roxbury	c. 1835	MBTA Bus: 35, 36, 37
10.9	2	Needham	Hersey	c. 1906
12.0	2		Needham Junction	c. 1870	MBTA Bus: 59
12.7	2		Needham Center	c. 1870	MBTA Bus: 59
13.7	2		Needham Heights	c. 1870	MBTA Bus: 59

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to MBTA Needham Line.

• MBTA - Needham Line

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Subway lines (List of stations) Heavy rail      Blue      Orange      Red Light rail      Green "B" Branch "C" Branch "D" Branch "E" Branch      Ashmont–Mattapan Former lines      Arborway Line      Atlantic Avenue Elevated      Causeway Street Elevated      Charlestown Elevated      Green Line "A" Branch      Washington Street Elevated      Commuter Rail lines (List of stations) North Station lines Fitchburg Haverhill (Wildcat Branch) Lowell Newburyport/Rockport South Station lines Fairmount Framingham/Worcester Franklin Greenbush Needham Old Colony (Kingston/Plymouth Middleborough/Lakeville      CapeFLYER) Providence/Stoughton Former lines Central Mass Branch Dedham Branch Lexington Branch Millis Branch Woburn Branch      Bus routes (List of routes)      Silver Line Crosstown routes Key routes Trackless trolleys Routes East Boston, Chelsea, Revere Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield South Boston Other services      Boat The Ride Component parts of system lines      Boylston Street Subway      Haymarket North Extension      Lechmere Viaduct      Tremont Street Subway      Washington Street Subway Capital projects Under construction      Chelsea extension      Fairmount Line upgrades      Fitchburg Line upgrades Wachusett extension           Forest Hills modifications           Government Center reconstruction      Green Line Extension      Haverhill Line upgrades      South Coast Rail In planning / proposed      Buzzards Bay extension      Foxboro service      Hynes Convention Center renovation      Kingston R.I. extension      Nashua extension      Route 16 extension      Wollaston renovation Formerly proposed      Arborway Line restoration      Indigo Line (Fairmount Grand Junction Track 61)      Lexington extension      Lynn extension      North–South Rail Link      Plaistow extension      Reading extension           Red Line—Blue Line Connector Urban Ring Project History Predecessor companies Boston Elevated Railway Streetcar lines Boston and Maine Railroad Conrail New York Central Railroad New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Penn Central Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Middlesex and Boston Street Railway Newton and Boston Street Railway Route histories      History of the Green Line Accidents and incidents      1990 Back Bay      2008 Waban/Woodland Other Accessibility Arts on the Line Bicycling CharlieCard Grand Junction Railroad "Charlie on the M.T.A." Nomenclature Police                Winter Street Concourse Yards and maintenance facilities