Green Line E branch

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 and (the last MBTA street-running tracks in revenue service), in the median of Huntington Avenue to , then into the Huntington Avenue subway. The line merges into the Boylston Street subway just west of , running to via the Tremont Street subway. It then follows the Lechmere Viaduct to , then the Medford Branch to . , 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 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 the 1920s, Jamaica Plain service was extended to , 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 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 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 in March 2022. It was permanently extended to Medford/Tufts in December 2022.

History

Horsecar lines

What became 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 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 the -long line was over an hour with a ten-cent fare. (The Metropolitan's main carhouse and barn was located at Roxbury Crossing.) Permission to double-track the line was given on September 9, 1879. A extension along 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 branch along Longwood Avenue to opened around late 1884. Around 1888, a branch was opened west from Brookline Village on Boylston Street and Cypress Street, serving 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.)

Electrification

thumb|left|Streetcars on Huntington Avenue at Mechanics Hall (the modern location of Prudential station) in 1920

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, the West End quickly moved to electrify its entire system. 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 carhouse with a passenger waiting room and space for 150 streetcars. 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 the Tremont Street tracks to Roxbury Crossing. 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 a connection was made with the Commonwealth Avenue Street Railway. 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 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 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. Longwood Avenue cars and Lake Street via Huntington Avenue cars soon used the subway as well.

Expansion

Two connecting routes opened in August 1900. New tracks on Harvard Street from Brookline Village to allowed through service from Allston to 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. Tracks on South Street between Jamaica Plain and Forest Hills Square (and 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. 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 the subway at Canal Street and looped at .

The Washington Street Elevated was extended to 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, 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 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 was soon extended to Arborway, improving connections with the other lines.

Reroutes and buses

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 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 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 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 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. 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 in 1972 was Longwood Avenue again used for transit. It was redirected to Brighton Center on June 23, 1928, and eventually became route 65.

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.

Huntington Avenue subway

thumb|left|Map of the 1926 proposal

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 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 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 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 and the . 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 the tunnel to Brookline Village was considered.

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 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.

The subway was constructed as twin tubes some long; they were adjacent except at Symphony station, where they ran on opposite sides of the underpass. The final cost of the project was $7.13 million (equivalent to $ in ), 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 a larger part of their route.

39: –
: Jamaica Plain–
57: Francis Street–Park Street (a short turn of route 39)

A loop at 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 the 1950s, an additional –Park Street shuttle was run. Route 57 - by then a weekday-only route - was discontinued effective September 1, 1961. The number was reassigned to the short-lived –Pleasant Street shuttle in November 1961. 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 the addition of a footbridge at Northeastern. The project faced opposition from the Museum of Fine Arts, which objected to the taking of a -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 the Huntington Avenue subway. 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, , Museum-Ruggles, and Northeastern were rebuilt with wider and longer platforms. On March 21, 1980, service was cut back to a Symphony–Park Street shuttle (run by LRVs) to allow for construction, with route 39 buses again operating. Arborway service ultimately resumed on June 26, 1982, including peak-hour Heath Street short turns and 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 2000 to 2017, buses used a loop - originally built for the Green Line, but never used by revenue trains - at . 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 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, 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 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 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 ). In September 2023, 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 via and , taking over portions of routes , , and . The portion from Longwood Avenue to Back Bay was to be discontinued. A November 2022 draft network plan reverted route 39 to its existing routing, with a more frequent route 47 instead extended to Union Square. Service changes effective August 24, 2025, extended service one hour longer on Friday and Saturday evenings. Effective December 14, 2025, route 39 is scheduled to operate every 15 minutes or less during normal service hours.

Later changes

thumb|left|Reconstruction of the E branch along Huntington Avenue in November 2006

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. For much of mid-2002, buses replaced weekend service to allow for the station construction. 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 as the Causeway Street elevated was replaced by a new tunnel. On October 13, 2012, 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. 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 the Lechmere Viaduct connected to the Green Line Extension viaduct. 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; 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 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.

In 2021, 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. The new platforms are planned to be long enough to accommodate two Type 10 vehicles. Design work began in July 2023. The full project was expected to cost $86 million in 2022. In 2026, the MBTA estimated the project would cost $283 million.

Symphony station on June 6, 2026, for approximately three years for renovations including accessibility.

Station listing

{| class="wikitable"

!Location

!Station

!Opened

!Notes and connections

|rowspan="2"|Medford

|rowspan="5"|December 12, 2022

|rowspan="3"|Somerville

|East Cambridge

|March 21, 2022

|The Lechmere Viaduct opened on June 1, 1912, with a direct connection to surface lines until July 9, 1922. The surface station was open from July 10, 1922, to May 23, 2020. :

|West End

|August 20, 1955

|rowspan=2|North End

|June 28, 2004

| Amtrak: : Fitchburg, Lowell, Haverhill, Newburyport/Rockport : : Original surface station was open from September 3, 1898 to March 27, 1997. Elevated station was open from June 1, 1912 to June 24, 2004.

|rowspan=2|September 3, 1898

|: :

|rowspan=3|Downtown Boston

|: :

|rowspan=2|September 1, 1897

|: , () : At : ;

|: () :

|rowspan=3|Back Bay

|November 13, 1921

|October 3, 1914

|rowspan=2|February 16, 1941

|rowspan=6|Fenway–Kenmore

|rowspan=11|August 4, 1894

|bgcolor=lightgray|Forsyth Street

|bgcolor=lightgray|Closed March 22, 1980

|bgcolor=lightgray|Parker Street

|bgcolor=lightgray|Closed March 22, 1980

|bgcolor=lightgray|Vancouver Street

|bgcolor=lightgray|Closed March 22, 1980

|rowspan=3|Longwood

|:

|bgcolor=lightgray|Wigglesworth Street

|bgcolor=lightgray|Closed March 22, 1980

|rowspan=5|Mission Hill

|:

|June 26, 1982

|December 15, 1945

|bgcolor="lightgray"; rowspan="4"|Jamaica Plain

|bgcolor=lightgray|Stops on South Huntington Avenue

|bgcolor=lightgray|July 11, 1903

|bgcolor="lightgray"; rowspan="3"|Closed December 28, 1985

|bgcolor=lightgray|Stops on Centre and South Streets

|bgcolor=lightgray|October 14, 1891

|bgcolor=lightgray|Stops on South Street

|bgcolor="lightgray"; rowspan="2"|May 17, 1902

|bgcolor=lightgray|

|bgcolor=lightgray|Closed December 28, 1985 Terminal for other streetcar (until 1953) and bus lines. Connection to at Forest Hills.

References

External links

MBTA – Green Line E
City of Boston – E-Branch Accessibility and Multimodal Corridor Improvements