YAY History: The "EL"

In this months history post I am going to be covering the history of the, now defunct, Orange line Elevated or the "EL".

MBTA map that shows the 
Elevated

The first phase of the "EL" , which was opened in 1901, was dubbed the Charlestown Elevated. The line ran from Everett right through Charlestown and then descended underground at North Station. The line then ran underground through downtown (todays Orange Line Subway) and then once again came above ground to meet the Washington Street Elevated. The Washington St. Elevated ran from the Chinatown station (then Essex st.) and terminated at Dudley Station. In 1909 the Elevated was then extended to Forest Hills. 




During the 1970's the MBTA was experiencing a time of growth. They began to examined many of their lines and fund improvement and revitalization projects. The Orange Line Elevated was the first on their list. The MBTA first thought of ways that they could extend the Orange Line. They proposed extending the northern terminus to Route-128 in Reading, then extend southern terminus to Dedham. As a result of this review the MBTA decided they were going to rip down the Charlestown Elevated. 

The MBTA built a brand new route for the Charlestown line. The new line ran from A new underground station at North Station through an underwater tunnel under the Charles River. The line then traveled at grade along newly acquired track from the Boston and Maine Railroad right of way under I-93. The line  then terminated at the present day terminus of Oak Grove.

Riding over the Charlestown Bridge

It wasn't long after the closure of the Charlestown Elevated that the MBTA came up with the idea to try and re-rout the rest of the elevated Orange Line. 

During the early 1980s, although the Orange line had become the most reliable and most ridden rapid transit line in Boston, it had become the most unsafe line in the system, due to the amount of crime on trains and at stations. 


The once beautiful victorian style elevated stations were now in horrible despair and were in need of a major refurbishment or total demolition. Although it was going to come at a huge price tag, around $730 Million, $1,677,050,744 in today's money, the MBTA was going to re-route the entire southern half of the Orange Line and rip down the Washington St. Elevated. In May, 1987 the last revenue trip was performed on the Washington St. Elevated. Thereafter the Orange line, instead of rising to the elevated tracks on Washington St., would veer west to follow the Mass Pike on the acquired right of way from the Boston and Albany Railroad and then travel along a newly constructed right of way all the way to Forest Hills. This became the Orange line that many of us ride today. 

North Station Elevated

As with many high profile and expensive projects, there was much controversy that came with the closing of the elevated. Although the line terminated basically in the same place, the new route largely bypassed Washington St. The MBTA promised replacement service to local residents who relied on the Elevated to get to work. A green line extension that would run from Washington Street to Dudley Square, then divert southeast on Warren Street towards Dorchester was proposed, but dropped soon after. It took the T until 2002 to implement some sort of service replacement for this area, being phase 1 of the Silver Line.

Sights from Marathon Monday

The city was abuzz with tourists, runners, and their families this past weekend, as everyone gathered for the 115th annual Boston Marathon. It is the oldest annual city race in the world and attracts some 500,000 spectators along the route. (To give some perspective, the entire population of Boston proper stands at just over 617,000.) Over 20,000 runners participate every year, making this one major event for this city.


Dan and I decided to join in the fun and headed down to Kenmore Square to walk along the last mile of the route. The streets were crowded with people everywhere, but an overwhelmingly positive atmosphere was present everywhere. Check out some of the things we saw.

 The crowd on Boylston Street

 After crossing the finish line, runners were draped in thermal wraps and given a bag of food to help replenish their systems.

 Near the Prudential center

These two guys were dressed as Solo cups.

On our way back home, we decided to take the Green Line. There was a "medical situation" and the whole station at Hynes Convention Center was backed up and filled with trains.

So there you have it, folks, scenes from Marathon Monday, even though its Wednesday.

Silver Line: More than a glorified bus line

Ah the Silver Line, the often overlooked and sparsely ridden segment of the MBTA's rapid transit system. Not quite a bus and not quite a subway. What's the deal with this oddball of a transit system?


An extremely new system by Boston's standards, the Silver Line Phase 1 first opened in the summer of 2002. At that time it only ran from Dudley Square to Downtown Crossing and was created to meet the needs of residents displaced by the relocation of the Orange Line Elevated system (the El) that used to run along Washington Street. The system uses bus rapid transit (BRT) vehicles, which are dual-mode buses that run on electric power from an overhead line and are considered trackless trolleys when running in the underground tunnels from South Station to the Waterfront. They also run on diesel fuel while on the street.


Phase 2 of the Silver Line, originally called the South Boston Piers Transitway, opened in December of 2004, running from South Station to Silver Line Way. In January of 2005, service to Logan Airport began. The Dudley Sq.-to-Downtown Crossing and South Station-to-Logan portions remained unconnected for nearly five years until October of 2009, when the Patrick-Murray administration announced that the new service connecting the two routes was to open, running from Dudley directly to South Station and constructed using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The picture of the map at right shows the newest version of the Silver Line service. I've found that the maps in most stations still don't show this newest connection and still say that the line ends at City Point on the Waterfront. The service to City Point (SL3) was shut down in 2008 after the MBTA found the ridership of that portion to be insufficient.


Today, according to the same press release announcing the construction of the Dudley-South Station connection, the Silver Line averages a daily ridership of 29,670. 


There are four routes that the Silver Line follows. SL1 runs from South Station to the Airport terminals. SL2 runs from South Station to the Design Center on the Waterfront. SL4 runs from South Station to Dudley Square and SL5 runs from Boylston Street to Dudley Square. 


A Phase 3 has been proposed to create a tunnel running below street level from South Station to Tremont Street to connect that station with the Boylston Street and Chinatown stops underground. The estimated cost for this project stands at around $780 million. According to A Better City, Phase 3 could relieve congestion on the core downtown stations and bring the 265,000 residents living on this line access to the 491,000 jobs located within walking distance of stations with two-seat ride access to the Airport. These numbers are expected to increase exponentially by 2030.


Despite many other benefits though, the project has been on hold since 2005, due to the enormous cost and scale of it and lack of consensus with neighborhood residents. It is currently listed as an "illustrative project," but has not received funding in the September 2009 amended version of the Long Range Transportation Plan put forth by the Boston Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization.


A study looking into expanding the line to Chelsea is currently underway. 


So although it may not be as heavily ridden or widely known as its heavy and light-rail brethren, the Silver Line still plays a major role in the daily commutes of thousands of passengers.