Orange Line (MBTA)

ORANGE LINE
Inbound train at Assembly on its opening day in September 2014
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
Status	Operational
Locale	Boston, Massachusetts
Termini	Oak Grove Forest Hills
Stations	20
Daily ridership	207,040 (2016)[1]
Operation
Opened	1901
Owner	MBTA
Operator(s)	MBTA
Rolling stock	01200 series
Technical
Line length	11 miles (18 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	Third rail
Route map Haymarket North Extension Oak Grove Malden Center River's Edge (proposed) Wellington Wellington Carhouse Mystic River Assembly Sullivan Square Community College Charles River Green Line North Station  Green Line  Washington Street Tunnel Haymarket  Green Line  Green Line State  Blue Line  Downtown Crossing  Red  Green  Silver  Chinatown  Silver Line  Tufts Medical Center  Silver Line  Back Bay Southwest Corridor Mass Ave Ruggles Roxbury Crossing Jackson Square Stony Brook Green Street Forest Hills

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 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 service at Back Bay and North Station, and with MBTA Commuter Rail service at Back Bay, North Station, Forest Hills, Ruggles station in Roxbury, and Malden Center in Malden. From 1901 to 1987, it provided the first elevated rapid transit in Boston; the last elevated section was torn down in 1987 when the southern portion of the line was moved to the Southwest Corridor.

All stations on the Orange Line are handicapped accessible. These stations are equipped with high-level platforms for easy boarding, as well as elevators for easy platform access.

History

Construction

The Charlestown El running over the Charlestown Bridge

The Main Line of the electric Boston Elevated Railway opened in segments, starting in 1901. It proceeded from Sullivan Square along the Charlestown Elevated to the Canal Street Incline near North Station. It was carried underground by the Tremont Street Subway (now part of the Green Line), returning above ground at the Pleasant Street Incline (now closed, located just south of Boylston station). A temporary link connected from there 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 today there is no rail transit) to the Washington Street Elevated.

In 1908, a new Washington Street Tunnel opened, allowing Main Line service to travel from the Charlestown Elevated, underground via an additional new portal at the Canal Street Incline, under downtown Boston and back up again to meet the Washington Street Elevated and Atlantic Avenue Elevated near Chinatown. Use of the parallel Tremont Street Subway was returned exclusively to streetcars.

By 1909, the Washington Street Elevated had been extended south to Forest Hills. Trains from Washington Street were routed through the new subway, either all the way to Sullivan Square, or back around in a loop via the subway and then the Atlantic Avenue Elevated.

In 1919, the Charlestown Elevated was extended north from Sullivan Square to Everett, over surface right-of-way parallel to Alford Street/Broadway, with a drawbridge over the Mystic River.^[2] The Boston Elevated had long-term plans to continue this extension further north to Malden, a goal which would only be achieved decades later, under public ownership and not via the Everett route.

Closure of Atlantic Avenue Elevated and ownership changes

Rowes Wharf station on the Atlantic Avenue Elevated in 1942 - four years after closure - just before being demolished

Following a 1928 accident at a tight curve on Beach Street, the southern portion of the Atlantic Avenue Elevated, between South Station and Tower D on Washington Street, was closed (except for rush-hour trips from Dudley to North Station via the Elevated), breaking the loop; non-rush-hour Atlantic Avenue service was reduced to a shuttle between North and South Stations.^[2] In 1938, the remainder of the Atlantic Avenue Elevated was closed, leaving the subway as the only route through downtown - what is now the Orange Line between Haymarket and Chinatown stations.

Ownership of the railway was transferred from the private Boston Elevated Railway to the public Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in 1947; the MTA was itself reconstituted as the modern Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in 1964.

Orange Line naming

Station sign at Boylston Street (now Chinatown) station in 1914. In 1967, the station was renamed Essex to avoid confusion with the preexisting Green Line station a block away.

The line was known as the Main Line Elevated under the Boston Elevated Railway, and the Forest Hills–Everett Elevated (Route 2 on maps) under the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

After taking over operations in August 1964, the MBTA began rebranding many elements of Boston's public transportation network. On August 26, 1965, the four rapid transit lines were assigned color-based names related to their history and geography. As part of the roadway going to the southwest in colonial Boston of 1775 that led to Boston Neck was named Orange Street,^[3] before being renamed Washington Street in July 1824, the former "Orange Street" name could have been a possible inspiration for the use of the color orange for the MBTA transit line that both ran in the 1908-completed tunnel under a section of the previously-named "Orange Street", and also containing the Washington Street Elevated.^[4] When designing the rebranding, Cambridge Seven Associates originally planned for yellow instead of orange, but yellow was rejected after testing.^[5] The color yellow would be used instead, in time, to designate MBTA Bus service.

In January and February 1967, the four original Washington Street Tunnel stations were renamed. Transfer stations were given the same name for all lines: Winter and Summer stations plus Washington on the Red Line became Washington, Milk and State plus Devonshire on the Blue Line became State Street after the cross street, and Union and Friend plus Haymarket Square on the Green Line became Haymarket after Haymarket Square.^[2] Boylston Street was renamed Essex to avoid confusion with nearby Boylston station on the Green Line.^[2]

In May 1987, Essex was renamed Chinatown after the adjacent Chinatown neighborhood, and Washington renamed Downtown Crossing after the adjacent shopping district.^[2] In March 2010, New England Medical Center station was renamed as Tufts Medical Center two years after the eponymous hospital changed its name.^[2]

Rerouting of Charlestown and Everett service

Map of the original Main Line Elevated and related lines

The Boston Transportation Planning Review looked at the line in the 1970s, considering extensions to reach the Route 128 beltway, with termini at Reading in the north and Dedham in the south. As a result of this review, the Charlestown Elevated - which served the Charlestown neighborhood north of downtown Boston and the inner suburb of Everett - was demolished and replaced in 1975.

The Haymarket North Extension rerouted the Orange Line through an underwater crossing of the Charles River. Service in Charlestown was replaced with service along Boston and Maine tracks routed partially beneath an elevated section of Interstate 93, ultimately to Wellington and then to Oak Grove in Malden, Massachusetts instead of Everett. Rail service to Everett was replaced with buses.

Closure of Washington Street Elevated

View under Washington Street Elevated, looking south from Bartlett Street (1973)

Construction of Interstate 95 into downtown Boston was cancelled in 1972 after local protest over the necessary demolition. However, land for I-95's Southwest Corridor through Roxbury had already been cleared of buildings; moreover, the state had already committed to using this vacant land for transportation purposes.^[6] As a result, instead of an 8-lane Interstate highway with a relocated Orange Line running in its median (in a manner similar to the Chicago Transit Authority's Dan Ryan and Congress and Jefferson Park lines), the space would be occupied by the realigned Orange Line, a reconstructed three-track mainline for Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and MBTA Commuter Rail trains, and a linear park. After this re-routing was accomplished in 1987, the Washington Street Elevated was torn down, the last major segment of the original elevated line to be demolished.

Modern view from the platform at Chinatown station shows the remains of the Washington Street Tunnel that led to the Elevated, in the background. In the foreground, the tracks curve rightward into the Southwest Corridor.

Between April 30 and May 3, 1987, the Washington Street Elevated south of the 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 from the southern end of the Washington Street Tunnel onto the new Southwest Corridor. Instead of rising up to elevated tracks, it now 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 MBTA right-of-way is also shared by Amtrak as part of the national Northeast Corridor intercity passenger rail service.

External video

Orange Line El Stations, 11:42, 4/30/1987, Boston TV Digital News[7]

While ending more or less at the same terminus (Forest Hills), the new routing bypassed significantly to the west of its previous route on Washington Street; local residents were promised replacement service. Originally, plans provided for light rail vehicles street running in mixed traffic, from Washington Street to Dudley Square, then diverting southeastward on Warren Street towards Dorchester. 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 service need. This replacement service was controversial, as many residents preferred the return of rail transportation.

Renovations during the Big Dig

Haymarket and North Station received major renovations during the Big Dig in the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century, 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.

Assembly

Assembly station on its first day of service in September 2014

In the early 2000s, Somerville began planning an infill station between Sullivan and Wellington to serve the new Assembly Square development. The $57 million station was funded by the state's Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, FTA Section 5309 New Starts program, and Federal Realty Investment Trust (the developer of Assembly Square).^[8] Construction began in late 2011 and finished in mid 2014.^[9] The new station, Assembly, opened on September 2, 2014.^[10] It was the first new station on the MBTA subway system since 1987.^[10]

Winter issues and resiliency work

During the unusually brutal winter of 2014-2015, the entire MBTA system was shut down on several occasions by heavy snowfalls. The aboveground sections of the Orange and Red lines were particularly vulnerable due to their exposed third rail, which iced over during storms. When a single train stopped due to power loss, other trains soon stopped as well; without continually running trains pushing snow off the rails, the lines were quickly covered in snow. (Because the Blue Line was built with overhead lines on its surface section due to its proximity to corrosive salt air, it was not subject to icing issues.)

During 2015, the MBTA is implementing its $83.7 million Winter Resiliency Program, much of which focused on preventing similar issues with the Orange and Red lines. The Southwest Corridor section of the Orange Line is located in a trench and is protected from the worst weather, but the 1970s-built Haymarket North Extension had older infrastructure and was in worse shape. From Sullivan Square north, it is exposed to the weather and largely built on an embankment, rendering it more vulnerable. That section is receiving new heated third rail, switch heaters, and snow fences to reduce the impacts of inclement weather.^[11][12] The work requires bustitution of the line from Sullivan Square to Oak Grove on many weeknights.^[13]

Historical routes

Route diagram templates of the various Orange Line routes over its history

1901-1908 1908-1938 Charlestown Elevated Sullivan Square Thompson Square opened 1902 City Square Charles River Atlantic Avenue Elevated North Station Canal Street Incline to Tremont Street Subway Battery Street Haymarket Adams Square Scollay Square State Street East Boston Tunnel Rowes Wharf BRB&L ferry Park Street South Station Boylston Pleasant Street Incline Pleasant Street Beach Street Washington Street Elevated Dover Northampton Dudley Square Charlestown Elevated Everett opened 1919 Mystic River Sullivan Square Thompson Square City Square Charles River Atlantic Avenue Elevated North Station Canal Street Incline to Washington Street Subway Battery Street Friend-Union Milk-State State Street East Boston Tunnel Rowes Wharf BRB&L ferry Summer South Station Dorchester Tunnel Boylston-Essex Beach Street closed 1919 Washington Street Elevated Dover Northampton Dudley Square Egleston opened 1909 Green Street opened 1912 Forest Hills opened 1909 1938-1975 1975-1987 Charlestown Elevated Everett Mystic River Sullivan Square Thompson Square City Square Charles River North Station  Green Line  Canal Street Incline Washington Street Subway Friend-Union Milk-State  Blue Line  Winter-Summer  Red Line  Boylston-Essex Washington Street Elevated Dover Northampton Dudley Square Egleston Green Street  Green Line  Forest Hills Arborway Haymarket North Extension Oak Grove Malden Center Wellington Mystic River Sullivan Square Community College Charles River North Station Haymarket  Green Line  Washington Street Subway State  Blue Line  Washington  Red Line  Essex Washington Street Elevated Dover Northampton Dudley Square Egleston Green Street  Green Line  Forest Hills Arborway closed 1985 1987–present Notes Haymarket North Extension Oak Grove Malden Center Wellington Mystic River Assembly opened 2014 Sullivan Square Community College Charles River North Station Washington Street Subway Haymarket State  Blue Line  Downtown Crossing  Red Line  Chinatown Tufts Medical Center Back Bay Southwest Corridor Park Mass Ave Ruggles Roxbury Crossing Jackson Square Stony Brook Green Street Forest Hills The Forest Hills extension of the Washington Street Elevated opened in 1909; the infill station at Green Street opened in 1912. The section of the Atlantic Avenue elevated between South Station and the junction near Dover was closed in 1928 after an accident. Haymarket and State got their modern names in 1967. Downtown Crossing and Chinatown also changed names in 1967, but changed again in 1987. Oak Grove opened in 1977, two years after the rest of the Haymarket North Extension. Tufts Medical Center was New England Medical Center until 2010.

Station listing

Station	Time to Downtown Crossing (min)[1]	Opened	Transfers and notes
Oak Grove	16	March 20, 1977
Malden Center	14	December 27, 1975	Commuter Rail: Haverhill/Reading Line
River's Edge [14][15]			Proposed station
Wellington	11	September 6, 1975
Assembly	10	September 2, 2014	Infill station
Sullivan Square	8	April 7, 1975	Separate station from one on the Charlestown Elevated closed April 4, 1975
Community College	6	April 7, 1975	Serves Bunker Hill Community College
North Station	4	April 7, 1975	Green Line and Commuter Rail north side lines. Amtrak: Downeaster
Haymarket	3	November 30, 1908	Green Line Originally Friend-Union until January 25, 1967
State	2	November 30, 1908	Blue Line Originally Milk-State until January 24, 1967
Downtown Crossing	-	November 30, 1908	Red Line, Green Line and Silver Line Originally Winter-Summer until January 22, 1967, then Washington until May 3, 1987
Chinatown	2	November 30, 1908	Silver Line Originally Boylston-Essex until February 10, 1967, then Essex until May 3, 1987
Tufts Medical Center	3	May 4, 1987	Silver Line Originally New England Medical Center until April 2010
Back Bay	5	May 4, 1987	Amtrak: Acela Express, Northeast Regional and Lake Shore Limited Commuter Rail: Providence/Stoughton Line, Framingham/Worcester Line, Franklin Line and Needham Line Also called Back Bay/South End
Massachusetts Avenue	7	May 4, 1987
Ruggles	9	May 4, 1987	Commuter Rail: Providence/Stoughton Line, Franklin Line and Needham Line
Roxbury Crossing	11	May 4, 1987
Jackson Square	13	May 4, 1987
Stony Brook	14	May 4, 1987
Green Street	16	May 4, 1987	Separate station from one on the former Washington Street Elevated closed April 30, 1987
Forest Hills	18	May 4, 1987	Commuter Rail: Needham Line Separate station from one on the former Washington Street Elevated closed April 30, 1987 Former terminus of Green Line E branch

Rolling stock

The current Orange Line rolling stock was built in 1979-1981 and will remain in service until 2023

Orange Line trains in Wellington Carhouse, the Orange Line's heavy maintenance facility, in 2014

The "T" previously had a fleet of Pullman-Standard heavy rail cars for the Orange Line. These cars, known as 01100s, had been in service since the 1950s, and saw service on both the elevated and the northern extension before they were retired in 1981. Several remained on the property for some time before being scrapped. The 01100 cars were a favorite for fans, as the small motorman's cab enabled passengers to stand at the front for an operator's-eye view.

The Orange Line is standard gauge heavy rail and uses a third rail for power. The current fleet is the 01200 series, built between 1979 and 1981 by Hawker Siddeley Canada Car and Foundry (now Bombardier Transportation) of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. They are 65 feet (20 m) long and 9 ft 3 in (2.8 m) 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. All in-service Orange Line trains run in six-car configurations.

New trains

A mockup of the new rolling stock on display in 2017, with livery chosen in a 2015 public poll

In late 2008, the MBTA began the planning process for new Orange and Red Line vehicles. The agency planned for a simultaneous order for 146 Orange Line cars (to replace the whole fleet) and 74 Red Line cars (to replace the older 1500 and 1600 series cars). A similar order was used in the late 1970s for the current Orange Line cars and the old Blue Line cars, ordered at the same time and largely identical except for size.^[16] In October 2013, MassDOT announced plans for a $1.3 billion subway car order for the Orange and Red Lines, which would provide 152 new cars to replace the current 120-car fleet and add more frequent service.^[17]

On October 22, 2014, the MassDOT Board awarded a $566.6 million contract to a China based manufacturer CNR (which became part of CRRC the following year) to build 152 replacement railcars for the Orange Line, as well as additional cars for the Red Line.^[18] CNR will build the new cars at a new manufacturing plant in Springfield, Massachusetts, with initial deliveries expected in 2018 and all cars in service by 2023.^[18] In conjunction with the new rolling stock, the remainder of the $1.3 billion allocated for the project will pay for testing, signal improvements and expanded maintenance facilities, as well as other related expenses.^[18]

While waiting for new cars, service has deteriorated due to maintenance problems with the old cars. The number of trains at rush hour was reduced from 17 (102 cars) to 16 (96 cars) in 2011; in the same year, daily ridership surpassed 200,000.^[19] Increased running times - largely due to longer dwell times from increased ridership - resulted in headways being lengthened from 5 minutes before 2011 to 6 minutes in 2016. The increased fleet size with the new trains will allow headways to be reduced to 4 to 5 minutes at peak.^[20] In the interim, a 2016 test of platform markings at North Station which show boarding passengers where to stand to avoid blocking alighting passengers, resulted in a one-third decrease in dwell times.^[21]

Facilities

The Orange Line has two tracks (one in each direction) and a third track between Wellington and the Charles River portal.^[22] This track is used to bypass construction on the other two, and for testing newly delivered cars for the Orange and Blue lines. The primary maintenance and storage facility is at Wellington Station.^[22] Had the Orange Line been extended to Reading, the third track would have been the northbound local track and the present-day northbound track would have become a bi-directional express track.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to MBTA Orange Line.

• Official MBTA Orange Line information
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) documentation of Boston Elevated Railway Company's Main Line Elevated (Former Orange Line)
• Orange Line from nycsubway.org - Includes detailed description and photos of current Orange Line
• Jamaica Plain Historical Society - Orange Line Memories
• Jamaica Plain Historical Society - Orange Line Replaced Old Railroad Embankment
• "An Elevated View: The Orange Line", Boston Public Library exhibit about Orange Line elevated line history, October 2012-January 2013 (BPL description)