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MBTA Red Line
A MBTA Red Line train composed of #3 Red Line stock leaving Charles/MGH station bound for Alewife, going over the Longfellow Bridge.
Info
Type	Rapid transit, Light rail
Locale	Boston, Massachusetts
Terminals	Alewife Ashmont or Braintree
No. of stations	17 (Alewife-Ashmont) 18 (Alewife-Braintree)
Service routes	2
Operation
Opened	1912
Owner	MBTA
Operator(s)	MBTA
Character	Subway, Grade-separated ROW
Rolling stock	#1, #2, #3 Red Line
Technical
Gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in)
Line map     Alewife     Davis         Porter     Harvard     Central     Kendall/MIT     Charles/MGH         Park Street             Downtown Crossing             South Station     Broadway     Andrew         JFK/UMass     Savin Hill     Fields Corner     Shawmut         Ashmont HIGH SPEED LINE to     Mattapan     North Quincy     Wollaston         Quincy Center     Quincy Adams         Braintree

Red Line train of #1 Red Line stock crossing the Charles River on the Longfellow Bridge, towards Boston

View of Boston from the Red Line

Red Line Signage

The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the MBTA running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities. From the northwest, the line begins in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Alewife station, near the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2. The line passes through downtown Boston, with transfers to the Green Line at Park Street station, the Silver Line at South Station, and the Orange Line at Downtown Crossing. South of downtown, the line splits at JFK/UMass station, where one branch provides service to Braintree station and the other to Ashmont station. A connection to the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line extends the reach of the Ashmont branch to Mattapan station.

Regular fare is $1.70 when using a CharlieCard or $2.00 when using cash or a Charlie Ticket, regardless of point of boarding or departure. Exit fares on the Braintree extension were discontinued in 2007.^[1] Approximate travel times to or from Park Street station (excluding headways) are as follows: northbound to Harvard station, 11 minutes; Alewife station, 20 minutes; southbound to JFK/UMass, 8 minutes; Ashmont station, 17 minutes; Braintree station, 28 minutes.^[2]

The Red Line was the last of the four original Boston subway lines (Green, Orange, Blue) to begin construction. The section from Harvard station and Eliot Yard connecting to Park Street station and the Tremont Street Subway opened on March 23, 1912. At Harvard, a prepayment station was provided for easy transfer to streetcar routes operating in a separate tunnel (now the Harvard Bus Tunnel). Opening of the line required construction of the Cambridge Tunnel just beneath Massachusetts Avenue and Main Street from Harvard onto the (now historic) Longfellow Bridge. The line occupied a previously constructed rail right-of-way in the center of the bridge.^{[citation needed]} On the Boston side of the bridge, the line briefly transformed into an elevated railway, rising over Charles Circle and connecting to another tunnel dug through Beacon Hill to Park Street. Further extensions (built as the Dorchester Tunnel) to Washington Street and South Station opened on April 4, 1915 and December 3, 1916, with transfers to the Washington Street Tunnel and Atlantic Avenue Elevated respectively. Further extensions opened to Broadway on December 15, 1917 and Andrew on June 29, 1918, both prepayment stations for streetcar transfer. The Broadway station included an upper level with its own tunnel for streetcars, which was abandoned in 1919 due to most lines being truncated to Andrew. The upper level has since been incorporated into the mezzanine.

Next came the Dorchester Extension, now known as the Ashmont Branch. The branch followed a rail right-of-way created in 1870 by the Shawmut Branch Railroad. In 1872, the right-of-way was acquired by the Old Colony Railroad to connect the main line at Harrison Square with the Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad, running from the Old Colony at Neponset, west to what is now Mattapan station. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad succeeded Old Colony in operating the branch and rail passenger service ceased in anticipation of the MTA expansion on September 4, 1926,^[3]

The MTA opened the first phase of the Dorchester Extension to Field's Corner station on November 5, 1927. Service ran south from Andrew station, turned southeast to the surface, and ran along the west side of the Old Colony mainline in a depressed right-of-way. Columbia station and Savin Hill station were built on the surface at the sites of former Old Colony stations. The remainder of the extension opened to Ashmont station and Codman Yard on September 1, 1928, and included a station - Shawmut - where there had been no Old Colony station due to the relatively close proximity to Fields Corner. The first phase of the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line opened on August 26, 1929, using the rest of the Shawmut Branch right-of-way, including Cedar Grove station, and part of the old Dorchester and Milton Branch.

The color red was assigned on August 26, 1965 to what had been called the Cambridge-Dorchester Tunnel and marked on maps as route 1. The color was chosen because the line ended at Harvard University, whose school color is crimson, a shade of red.^[4]

The first section of the South Shore Line opened on September 1, 1971. This line branched from the original line at a flying junction north of Columbia and ran along the west side of the Old Colony right-of-way (since reduced to one track), crossing to the east side north of Savin Hill. Its northernmost station was North Quincy, with two others at Wollaston and Quincy Center. The rest of the line, the Braintree Extension (first planned by the Boston Transportation Planning Review) to Braintree station, opened March 22, 1980, and the intermediate station at Quincy Adams station opened on September 10, 1983.

The first part of the Northwest Extension, the relocation of Harvard station, was finished on September 6, 1983. During construction, several temporary stations were built at Harvard Square. The old Eliot Yard was demolished; Harvard's Kennedy School of Government now sits inside the retaining walls built for the railyard. Subsequent extensions to Porter station, Davis station on December 8, 1984, and Alewife station on March 30, 1985 brought the Red Line to its current extent. There were possible plans to extend the Northwest Extension from Alewife to Lexington via an abandoned rail right-of-way, but these plans never materialized.^[5] A platform on the South Shore Line opened at JFK/UMass (formerly Columbia) on December 14, 1988.

Platforms on older stations were lengthened in the late 1980s to allow six-car trains, which first ran January 21, 1988. During the expansion, the MBTA invested in an Arts on the line public art program.

In 1968, letters were assigned to the south branches - "A" for Quincy (planned to extend to South Braintree) and "C" for Ashmont. "B" was probably reserved for a planned branch from Braintree to Brockton. As new rollsigns were made, this lettering was phased out. In 1994, new electronic signs included a different labeling - "A" for Ashmont, "B" for Braintree and "C" for Alewife. [2]

The line used trip-stop wayside signalling for the Ashmont and Harvard branches until the mid-1980s, while the Braintree Branch was one of the earliest examples of Automatic Train Control (ATC). The Alewife Branch was built with ATC, at which point the remainder of the line was upgraded to ATC as well. The line was under local control at towers until 1985 when an electromechanical panel was completed at 45 High St. This was replaced in the late 1990s with a software-controlled Automatic Train Supervision, using a product by Union Switch and Signal, subcontracted to Syseca Inc. (now ARINC), at a new theater at 45 High St. Subsequent revisions to the system were made internally at the MBTA.

The shortest scheduled headway ever run on the Red Line is most likely the 1-3/4 minute interval in the schedule published in 1928. Ridership peaked on the line around 1947, when passenger counters logged over 850 people per four car train during peak periods. The newer ATC signalling was designed to higher safety standards, but the particular design of the block layout in the downtown area reduced the capacity by 50% over the previous wayside signalling system. The net loss of capacity measured in cars per hour has not been rectified, although at the same time the platforms were lengthened to run 6-car trains which are now operated on a longer headway. Additionally, the shifting between speed codes that is inherent in an ATC system near capacity caused peak period energy consumption to skyrocket, and accelerated the decline of the 01400 series fleet.

Most, but not all, Red Line stations are wheelchair accessible. See also MBTA accessibility.

The Red Line is standard gauge heavy rail. Trains consist of mated pairs of Electrical Multiple Unit cars powered from a 600 VDC third rail. Trains run either in 4-car or 6-car sets.

Two basic types of cars are in use today:

• Three series of older aluminum-bodied cars built by Pullman-Standard and UTDC. The older two series of this batch, the 01500 and 01600 series, were built by Pullman in 1969-1970. The 1700 series was built by UTDC in 1988. These cars seat 62 to 64 customers and approximately 132 cars are in active service. All cars in these series are painted white with red trim and use manually-operated exterior signs.

All three groups of these older cars (units 1500 through 1757) use traditional DC traction motors with electromechanical controls manufactured by Westinghouse and can inter-operate among the three series. The 1500 and 1700 series cars could operate as singletons, but in practice, are always operated as mated pairs. The 1600 series could only operate as mated pairs.

A Bombardier car at Harvard.

• One series of newer stainless steel-bodied cars built by Bombardier from components manufactured in Canada and assembled in Barre, Vermont. These cars seat 50 passengers and 86 cars are in active service. An automatic voice synthesis system provides station announcements; the announcements are also displayed on LED signs in each car. Train operation is automated. These cars are stainless steel with red trim and use yellow LCD exterior signs.

Known as the 1800 series, they were built in 1993-1994. These newer cars (units 1800 through 1885) use modern AC traction motors with solid state controls manufactured by General Electric, can only operate as mated pairs, and can not interoperate with the older three series of cars.

Rolling stock is stored and maintained at the Cabot Yard, near the Broadway station in South Boston. The connection to this yard is at the junction where the two branches split, near JFK/UMass station.

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• In 1944, Tom Lehrer wrote a song called Boston, (a parody of the song Mother) whose lyrics list stops on the Red Line and an appropriate Boston accent when necessary:

H is for my alma mater, Hahvahd.
C is Central, next stop on the line.
K is for the cozy Kendall station, and
C is Charles, which overlooks the brine.
P is "Pahk" Street, busy Boston center, and
W is Washington, you see.
Put them all together, they spell…HCKC-PW…which is just about what Boston means to me!

• The tunnels of the Red Line have a cameo in the 1936 H. P. Lovecraft novella "At the Mountains of Madness," in which a character rattles off the stops from South Station to Harvard to calm himself as a nameless horror chases him through a cave in Antarctica. "South Station Under - Washington Under - Park Street Under-Kendall - Central - Harvard - " Park Street also shows up in his 1927 story "Pickman's Model."

• At the Harvard station (and nowhere else on the main branch of the Red Line), the electronic announcer on the newer (Bombardier-built) trains makes a special announcement: "No smoking, please!" This announcement can be heard on other stations south of JFK/UMass. This announcement can also be heard at some stations on the Green Line, immediately following the announcement of a station.

• Newer aboveground stations (particularly Alewife, Braintree, and Quincy Adams) are excellent examples of brutalist architecture.

• The Kendall station features an interactive public art installation by Paul Matisse called the Kendall Band, which allows the public to activate three sound-producing machines utilizing cranks on the wall of the station.

• In between South Station and Broadway, and also Harvard station and Central Square, there is an advertisement in the form of a zoetrope. The speed of the train along with strategically timed strobe lights make the individual frames look animated. A similar advertisement for Carnival was placed for inbound trains between Harvard and Central square in Summer 2004 & currently features a Chevrolet advertisement. Previously, it was an advertisement for Vermont, and earlier Target. There are similar adverts in parts of the New York City Subway and Washington Metro.

• In the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, there are several scenes filmed on the Red Line, including across Longfellow Bridge.

• The Red Line features heavily in the 2006 film The Departed. Brief takes of the train in Dorchester, just south of the Dorchester Tunnel, and crossing over the Neponset River on the Anderson Bridge are used as transitional shots. Later in the film, several of the main characters engage in a cell conversation while riding the Red Line from Park St. to South Station, despite the fact that this section of tunnel has no cell service. There are also shots of the Park Street station and South Station exit.

• An automated voice announces each stop and the terminating station for each of the newer trains. These announcements, however, are often wrong so riders should take note of the signs in the stations.

A rollsign in a Red Line car. This selection was only used in late 1984 and early 1985, while the Red Line was being expanded towards Alewife; during that time, Davis was the end of the line. However, this photo was taken in 2005, and was thus anachronistic.

Outbound train approaching South Station.

Station	Location	Opened	Transfers and notes
Alewife	Alewife Brook Parkway, Cambridge	March 30, 1985	bus terminal, park and ride garage, Minuteman Bikeway
Davis	Davis Square, Somerville	December 8, 1984	Somerville Community Path
Porter	Porter Square, Cambridge	December 8, 1984	MBTA Commuter Rail, Fitchburg Line
Stadium	Harvard Square, Cambridge	October 26, 1912	Across Charles River from Harvard Stadium. Only used during Harvard football games, last known use November 18, 1967
Harvard/Brattle	Harvard Square, Cambridge	March 24, 1979	Closed September 1, 1983, supplemented Harvard during construction of the Alewife extension
Harvard	Harvard Square, Cambridge	September 6, 1983	Original station opened March 23, 1912 and closed January 30, 1981, Harvard/Holyoke opened January 31, 1981 and closed September 1, 1983
Central	Central Square, Cambridge	March 23, 1912
Kendall/MIT	Kendall Square, Cambridge	March 23, 1912	originally Kendall until August 6, 1978, named Cambridge Center/MIT between December 2, 1982 and June 25, 1985
Charles/MGH	Cambridge and Charles Streets, Boston	February 27, 1932	originally Charles until December 1973
Park Street	Park, Tremont, and Winter Streets, Boston	March 23, 1912	Green Line originally Park Street Under
Downtown Crossing	Summer, Washington, and Winter Streets, Boston	April 4, 1915	Orange Line and Silver Line Phase I originally Washington until May 3, 1987
South Station	Dewey Square, Boston	December 3, 1916	Silver Line Phase II and MBTA Commuter Rail south side lines Had a transfer to the Atlantic Avenue Elevated
Broadway	Broadway and Dorchester Avenue, South Boston	December 15, 1917
Andrew	Andrew Square, South Boston	June 29, 1918
North of JFK/UMass, the Red Line surfaces and separates into two branches which operate on separate platforms at JFK/UMass. Just south of the station, the two branches divide as described below.
JFK/UMass	Columbia Road and Morrissey Boulevard, Dorchester	November 5, 1927	MBTA Commuter Rail, Plymouth/Kingston Line and Middleborough/Lakeville Line originally Columbia until December 1, 1982, Braintree platform opened December 14, 1988 was called Crescent Avenue as an Old Colony Railroad station

Diverging from JFK/UMass:

Station	Location	Opened	Transfers and notes
Savin Hill	Savin Hill Avenue and Sidney Street	November 5, 1927	was an Old Colony Railroad station
Harrison Square			former split and transfer station between the Old Colony Railroad mainline and the Shawmut Branch Railroad, never a rapid transit station
Fields Corner	Charles Street and Dorchester Avenue	November 5, 1927	was a Shawmut Branch Railroad station
Shawmut	Dayton Street	September 1, 1928
Ashmont	Ashmont Street and Dorchester Avenue	September 1, 1928	Continuing service to Mattapan via the 10-minute Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line (opened December 21, 1929) was a Shawmut Branch Railroad station Cedar Grove station on the Shawmut Branch Railroad is now a station on the Mattapan Line, after which the line merges with the former Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad right-of-way

Diverging from JFK/UMass:

Station	Location	Opened	Transfers and notes
North Quincy	East Squantum and Hancock Streets, Quincy	September 1, 1971
Wollaston	Newport Avenue and Beale Street, Quincy	September 1, 1971
Quincy Center	Hancock and Washington Streets, Quincy	September 1, 1971	MBTA Commuter Rail, Plymouth/Kingston Line and Middleborough/Lakeville Line
Quincy Adams	Burgin Parkway and Centre Street, Quincy	September 10, 1983	Park and ride
Braintree	Ivory and Union Streets, Braintree	March 22, 1980	MBTA Commuter Rail, Plymouth/Kingston Line and Middleborough/Lakeville Line Park and ride

v • d • e Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Subway lines	Green Line ("B" Branch · "C" Branch · "D" Branch · "E" Branch) •       Red Line (Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line) •       Orange Line •       Blue Line •       Silver Line
Commuter Rail lines	Greenbush • Old Colony Lines • Fairmount • Providence/Stoughton • Franklin • Needham • Framingham/Worcester • Fitchburg • Lowell • Haverhill/Reading • Newburyport/Rockport • North-South Rail Link
Bus routes	List of bus routes • Crosstown routes • Trackless trolleys • Key routes • Buses in East Boston, Chelsea, and Revere • Buses in South Boston
Former lines	Charlestown Elevated • Atlantic Avenue Elevated • Washington Street Elevated • Boston Elevated Railway • Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway • Middlesex and Boston Street Railway • Green Line "A" Branch • Boston-area streetcar lines
Miscellaneous	Accessibility • Boat service • CharlieCard • MBTA Police • Nomenclature • List of subway stations

• MBTA - Red Line
• nycsubway.org - MBTA Red Line

1. ^ FAQ regarding exit fares. Globe article about planned changes in fare structure.
2. ^ Association for Public Transportation, Car-Free in Boston, A Guide for Locals and Visitors, 10th ed. (2003), p. 116.
3. ^ End of service on Old Colony's Shawmut Branch
4. ^ Timeline of Harvard athletics showing that Harvard adopted crimson as their school color in 1875.
5. ^ The right of way on which the extension would have been built instead was developed into the Minuteman Bikeway.[1]

• Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district (PDF)
• Railroad History Database