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, and the Green Line at Haymarket and North Station. It connects with Amtrak and Commuter Rail service at Back Bay and North Station.

Related Topics:
MBTA - Forest Hills - Jamaica Plain - Boston - Oak Grove - Malden, Massachusetts - Red Line - Downtown Crossing - Blue Line - State - Green Line - Haymarket - North Station - Amtrak - Back Bay

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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 1975, the Charlestown Elevated to Everett was shut down and replaced with a rerouting to Malden. In April 1987, the Washington Street Elevated south of the Essex (Chinatown) station was closed (service along part of the line was ultimately replaced in 2002 with the Silver Line. The line was rerouted into a modern subway running along the Amtrak right-of-way (the Northeast Corridor) from Back Bay to Forest Hills.

Related Topics:
Boston Elevated Railway - Streetcar - Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line - Charlestown Elevated - Everett - Washington Street Elevated - Silver Line - Northeast Corridor

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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.

Related Topics:
Beltway - Route 128 - Reading - Dedham

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The old Orange Line El was the train seen in the opening sequence of the television program St. Elsewhere.

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