Orange Line (MBTA)
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Main_Line_Elevated.jpg
The Orange Line is one of the four subway lines of the MBTA. It extends from Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, Boston in the south to Oak Grove in Malden, Massachusetts in the north. It meets the Red Line at Downtown Crossing, the Blue Line at State, and the Green Line at Haymarket and North Station. It connects with Amtrak and Commuter Rail service at Back Bay and North Station.
Originally known as the Main Line of the Boston Elevated Railway and later the Forest Hills-Everett Elevated Line, the current name is derived from Orange Street, an old name for the section of Washington Street immediately south of downtown under which the Washington Street Tunnel, forming the center of the line, still runs. (Cars throughout the Boston rapid transit network were formerly painted orange or with orange stripes by MBTA predecessors, and restored streetcars on the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line wear their historical orange livery, but this is largely coincidental.) In April 1987, the Washington Street El south of the Essex (Chinatown) station was closed. The line was rerouted into a modern subway running along the Amtrak right-of-way (the Northeast Corridor) from Back Bay to Forest Hills.
During the conceptual stages of the modern Orange Line in the 1970s, extensions to the beltway Route 128 were proposed, with termini at Reading in the north and Dedham in the south.
The old Orange Line El was the train seen in the opening sequence of the television program St. Elsewhere.
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Stations
Station listing
| Station | Time to Downtown Crossing | Opened | Transfers and notes |
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| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Oak Grove | March 20, 1977 | ||
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Malden Center | December 27, 1975 | Commuter Rail Haverhill/Reading Line | |
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Wellington | September 6, 1975 | ||
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Sullivan Square | April 7, 1975 | ||
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Community College | April 7, 1975 | ||
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png North Station | April 7, 1975 | Green Line and Commuter Rail north side lines | |
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Haymarket | November 30, 1908 | Green Line originally Friend-Union until January 25, 1967 | |
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png State | November 30, 1908 | Blue Line originally Milk-State until January 24, 1967 | |
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png 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 | |
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Chinatown | November 30, 1908 | Silver Line originally Boylston-Essex until February 10, 1967, then Essex until May 3, 1987 | |
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png New England Medical Center | May 4, 1987 | Silver Line | |
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Back Bay | May 4, 1987 | Commuter Rail Attleboro/Stoughton Line, Framingham/Worcester Line, Franklin Line and Needham Line also called Back Bay/South End | |
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Massachusetts Avenue | May 4, 1987 | ||
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Ruggles | May 4, 1987 | Commuter Rail Attleboro/Stoughton Line, Franklin Line and Needham Line | |
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Roxbury Crossing | May 4, 1987 | ||
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Jackson Square | May 4, 1987 | ||
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Stony Brook | May 4, 1987 | ||
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Green Street | May 4, 1987 | ||
| Missing image Accessible.png Image:Accessible.png Forest Hills | May 4, 1987 | Commuter Rail Attleboro/Stoughton Line, Franklin Line and Needham Line |
Rolling Stock
The Orange Line's current fleet is the 01200 series, built 1980-1981 by Hawker Siddeley Canada Car and Foundry (now Bombardier Transportation) of Fort William, Ontario, Canada. They are 65 feet (20 meters) long and 111 inches (2.8 meters) wide, with three pairs of doors on each side. They are based on the PA3 model used by PATH in New Jersey. There are 120 cars, numbered 01200-01319. These units are expected to remain in service until 2015.[1] (http://www.mbta.com/insidethet/transitcommitments.asp)
Accessibility
All stations on the Orange Line are handicapped accessible, though State is not fully accessible on the Blue Line.
External links
- Jamaica Plain Historical Society - Orange Line Memories (http://www.jphs.org/transportation/orange-line-memories.html)
- Jamaica Plain Historical Society - Orange Line Replaced Old Railroad Embankment (http://www.jphs.org/transportation/orange-line-replaced-old-railroad-embankment.html)