Orange Line (MBTA)
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 Street, 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
- Oak Grove
- Malden Center
- Wellington
- Sullivan Square, Charlestown
- Community College, Charlestown
- North Station, with direct connections to MBTA commuter rail. North Station is located directly beneath the TD Banknorth Garden.
- Haymarket
- State, located directly beneath Boston's historic Old State House.
- Downtown Crossing, located next to the famous Filene's Basement.
- Chinatown
- New England Medical Center
- Back Bay station, connection to Amtrak service including the Acela Express.
- Massachusetts Avenue, within walking distance of Boston Symphony Hall.
- Ruggles
- Roxbury Crossing
- Jackson Square
- Stony Brook
- Green Street
- Forest Hills, near the Arnold Arboretum.
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]
Accessibility
All stations on the Orange Line are handicapped accessible, though State is not fully accessible on the Blue Line.
| Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (official site) | ||
| Red Line | Alewife – Ashmont / Braintree — Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line: Ashmont – Mattapan | |
| Green Line | Lechmere – Boston College (B) / Cleveland Circle (C) / Riverside (D) / Heath Street (E) | |
| Orange Line | Oak Grove – Forest Hills — Charlestown Elevated – Atlantic Avenue Elevated – Washington Street Elevated | |
| Blue Line | Wonderland – Bowdoin | |
| Buses | Silver Line: Dudley – Downtown Crossing; South Station – various points ---- List – Crosstown buses – Former streetcars – Key routes – Urban Ring | |
| Commuter Rail | Greenbush – Plymouth/Kingston – Middleborough/Lakeville – Fairmount – Attleborough/Stoughton – Franklin – Needham – Framingham/Worcester – Fitchburg – Lowell – Haverhill/Reading – Newburyport/Rockport | |