The Boston-area
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
(or, as known locally, trackless trolley) system forms part of the
public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
ation network serving
Greater Boston
Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern ar ...
in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
. It opened on April 11, 1936,
and since 1964 has been operated by the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
(MBTA). The current system consists of the
Silver Line (Waterfront), a
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
service using
dual-mode bus
A dual-mode bus is a bus that can run independently on power from two different sources, typically electricity from overhead lines like a trolleybus or from batteries like a hybrid bus, alternated with conventional fossil fuel (generally diesel ...
es which run as trolleybuses in a tunnel in the
Seaport District
The Seaport District, or simply the Seaport, is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. It is part of the larger neighborhood of South Boston, and is also sometimes called the Innovation District. The Seaport is a formerly industrial area that ...
of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
before switching to diesel power to serve other destinations.
Until 2022, several other trolleybus routes fanned out from the Harvard bus tunnel at
Harvard Square station, running through Cambridge,
Belmont, and
Watertown Watertown may refer to:
Places in China
In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways.
Places in the United States
*Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town
**Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...
. These lines were the remains of a once-extensive system of trackless trolleys in the area, which was largely formed from former
streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
lines. Measured by fleet size, the Boston-area system was the third-largest trolleybus system in the United States at its peak (end of 1952), with only the
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
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, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
and
Atlanta systems having more trolleybuses than Boston's 463.
Aside from four routes feeding the Harvard tunnel, Greater Boston's trolleybus routes had all been converted to diesel bus operation by 1964.
History
![MBTA North Cambridge Yard in 1967](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/MBTA_North_Cambridge_Yard_in_1967.jpg)
The first trackless trolley line in the Boston transit system was opened by the
Boston Elevated Railway
The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) was a streetcar and rapid transit railroad operated on, above, and below, the streets of Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding communities. Founded in 1894, it eventually acquired the West End Street Railwa ...
(BERy) on April 11, 1936. Replacing a streetcar line over the same route, it was a crosstown line (later numbered 77, and today served by the bus) running from
Harvard station
Harvard station is a rapid transit and bus transfer station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Located at Harvard Square, it serves the MBTA's Red Line subway system as well as MBTA buses. Harvard averaged 18,528 entries each weekday in FY2019, makin ...
east to
Lechmere station
Lechmere station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line light rail station in Lechmere Square in East Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is located on the east side of Monsignor O'Brien Highway near First Street, adjacen ...
. (Substitution of buses for streetcars on the route had been proposed as early as 1930.) Additional lines were opened in 1937, and by 1942, the system had 14 lines, of which 10 were former streetcar lines and four were former
motor bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
lines.
In 1947, the BERy was succeeded by the public Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) as the operator of Boston's urban transit system,
and in 1964, the MTA was replaced by the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
(MBTA), which remains the system's operator today.
The BERy was owned by private investors, but came under public control from 1918. It served 13 municipalities of
Greater Boston
Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern ar ...
, including
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
proper. The MTA's service area was limited to these municipalities (with the addition of
Revere). Following a change of management, the MTA began replacing trolleybuses with motorbuses, starting in 1958. Only four trolleybus lines remained after 1963, all based in Cambridge. Four decades later, the MTA's successor, the MBTA, built the
Silver Line (Waterfront), and that line's opening in late 2004 reintroduced trolleybus service in Boston proper.
At the trolleybus system's peak, the maximum number of trolleybus routes in operation was 37, with most route running in the near north suburbs of Boston. In addition, there were the disconnected Dorchester and Arborway networks.
Prior to the opening of the Silver Line, a total of 43 trolleybus lines had historically existed, but not all concurrently,
[ making the all-time total 44 (counting the Silver Line trunk as one route) .]
Table of former trolleybus routes
Proposed system closure
In 2022, the Silver Line (Waterfront) is planned to be converted from dual-mode bus
A dual-mode bus is a bus that can run independently on power from two different sources, typically electricity from overhead lines like a trolleybus or from batteries like a hybrid bus, alternated with conventional fossil fuel (generally diesel ...
es to diesel hybrid buses, with the overhead wires taken down afterwards. Following the testing of a small number of battery buses on the line starting in July 2019, MBTA placed an order in November 2020 for 45 articulated "extended-range" diesel hybrid buses to replace the 32 dual-mode buses currently used on the Silver Line.
MBTA staff also recommended replacing all trolleybuses on the Cambridge-based network with battery buses. Trolleybus service on the last two surviving routes, 71 and 73, ended on March 12, 2022. Multiple utility and road-rebuilding projects beginning in early 2022 have led MBTA to decide to substitute diesel hybrid buses for trolleybuses at that time. The move was initially temporary, but if the authority later approves the proposed conversion of the trolleybus system to battery buses, the temporary suspension would become a permanent closure.
Harvard-based routes
History
What became the Harvard-based trolleybus system began as branches of the Cambridge Railroad
The Cambridge Railroad (also known as the Cambridge Horse Railroad) was the first street railway in the Boston, Massachusetts area, linking Harvard Square in Cambridge to Cambridge Street and Grove Street in Boston's West End, via Massachusett ...
, a horsecar
A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar.
Summary
The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...
street railway
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
that opened in 1856. Lines from Harvard Square to Mount Auburn via Brattle Street and Porter Square opened soon after the Harvard Square–Bowdoin Square route. The connecting Watertown Horse Railroad opened on April 27, 1857. The Porter Square branch was extended to the border of West Cambridge (now Arlington); there it met the West Cambridge Horse Railroad, which opened on June 13, 1859. In 1880, the Watertown line was extended south on Galen Street to Nonantum Square.
The Harvard–Arlington line was electrified on July 1, 1889 – one of the first lines converted by the West End Street Railway
The West End Street Railway was a streetcar company that operated in Boston, Massachusetts and several surrounding communities in the late nineteenth century.
Originally an offshoot of a land development venture, the West End rose to prominence ...
. Electric service between Watertown and Mount Auburn began on December 12, 1893; the line was double-tracked later in the decade. Residents of Brattle Street objected to the construction of electric lines; in October 1893, the Board of Railway Commissioners denied the West End permission to run electric streetcars on Brattle Street.[ ] That November, a compromise was worked out where the West End would instead build on Mount Auburn Street (which had been considered in 1891); a parallel line on Concord Avenue and Huron Avenue (ending at Aberdeen Avenue and Mount Auburn Street) would be opened within eight months, and the Brattle Street horsecar tracks removed in the same time frame. The Mount Auburn line opened in April or May 1894, with the Concord/Huron line opening later in the year.
A branch from Mount Auburn Street to Waverley Square in Belmont opened on October 1, 1898, despite Watertown's opposition earlier than year to widening Belmont Street. A branch to Belmont Center opened on June 30, 1906; it was replaced by buses in August 1928 and was never a trackless trolley route.
On April 1, 1938, trackless trolleys replaced streetcars on the Harvard–Aberdeen Avenue line (72). In 1955 the Harvard–Arlington Heights line was converted from streetcars to diesel buses, but streetcars continued to provide short-turn service between Harvard and North Cambridge.[ Starting in 1957, trackless trolleys provided short-turn service from Harvard to Benton Square on the route to Waverley.] The Harvard–Watertown Square (71), Harvard–Waverley (73), and Harvard–North Cambridge (82, renumbered 77A c. 1967[) lines were all converted from streetcars to trackless trolleys on September 6, 1958.][
These four Harvard-based trackless trolley routes remained long after the rest of the bus system had converted to diesel and existed, in part, because of a desire to limit the number of diesel buses in the Harvard bus tunnel. Inside the portals, the tunnel splits into two one-way tunnels, upper and lower. The tunnel for eastbound-northbound vehicles is placed on top of the tunnel for southbound-westbound vehicles.][Priestley, John (July–August 1988). "North American Safari: Part 3". ''Trolleybus Magazine'', pp. 83–88. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .] The tunnels first opened for streetcars in 1912, and trolleybuses began using them in 1938.[ Streetcar service using the tunnel was abandoned in 1958. In a six-year project lasting from 1979 to 1985 (coinciding with the reconstruction of ]Harvard station
Harvard station is a rapid transit and bus transfer station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Located at Harvard Square, it serves the MBTA's Red Line subway system as well as MBTA buses. Harvard averaged 18,528 entries each weekday in FY2019, makin ...
during the Northwest Extension of the MBTA Red Line
The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) as part of the MBTA subway system. The line runs south and east underground from Alewife station in North Cambridge through Somerville and Camb ...
), the tunnel was closed for an extensive rebuilding, which included new platforms and a new northern portal ramp.[ (The preservation of these lines has also been attributed to the ]environmentalist movement
The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists advoc ...
of the 1970s.)
In January 2005 most route 77A (Harvard–North Cambridge) service was eliminated; the only remaining trips were pull-ins and pull-outs to take 71 and 73 buses to or from the carhouse. In March 2013, route 72 trackless trolleys were replaced with diesel buses to permit roadwork on Huron Avenue and reconstruction of the Conductor's Building in Bennett Alley. It was planned that route 72 would return to electric operation when construction was complete, but service was reduced to peak-only in December 2019 (in conjunction with improvements to routes 74 and 75 which also run on Concord Avenue), and all route 72 service was suspended indefinitely in December 2020.
In 2021 the MBTA announced plans to renovate the North Cambridge Carhouse facility by 2023 to accommodate battery electric buses
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
, eliminating trolleybus operations on all Harvard-based routes. This included shifting the North Cambridge routes to another, unelectrified garage in 2022 to permit rebuilding of North Cambridge to begin unimpeded by active operations. Accordingly, trackless trolley service on routes 71 and 73 was replaced with diesel buses (and route 77A eliminated entirely) on March 13, 2022.
Vehicles
In the lower/westbound tunnel, the loading platforms are located on the left side of the roadway, and for this reason the trolleybuses serving this station were equipped with left-side doors, in addition to the normal righthand doors, to avoid the need to board passengers from doors facing the wall rather than the platform. Diesel buses serving the tunnel are not equipped with left-side doors, and passengers boarding or deboarding at the westbound stop must cross the roadway to reach the buses' doors. In 2004, the MBTA began receiving a fleet of new trolleybuses from Neoplan USA
Neoplan Bus GmbH is a German automotive company that manufactures buses, trolleybuses and coaches. It is a subsidiary of MAN Truck & Bus SE.
History Foundations
The company was founded by Gottlob Auwärter in Stuttgart in 1935, and man ...
, to replace Flyer E800 trolleybuses dating from 1976. The newer vehicles were low-floor
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i.e ...
vehicles and met Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ...
standards (see MBTA accessibility
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) system is mostly but not fully accessible. Like most American mass transit systems, much of the MBTA subway and commuter rail were built before wheelchair access became a requirement under the ...
).
Operations
The vehicles for Harvard-based routes were all stored overnight and maintained at the North Cambridge Carhouse, the northern terminus of the 77A route. Trackless trolleys dId not run on Sundays; instead, diesel buses covered the routes.[ This was the case since 1963.]
To expedite passenger boarding through a left-side door in the southbound Harvard bus tunnel, the 71 and 73 trackless trolley routes allowed free entry for outbound trips, collecting fare upon later passenger exit from the vehicle.
Silver Line
The Silver Line is split into two sections; the diesel-powered Washington Street section runs entirely on the surface, but the Waterfront section runs through a dedicated tunnel under the South Boston Waterfront
South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...
, in which diesel emissions would be problematic. Several routes branch out from the tunnel along routings where installation of overhead trolley wire would have been impractical, especially through the Ted Williams Tunnel
The Ted Williams Tunnel is a highway tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts. The third in the city to travel under Boston Harbor, with the Sumner Tunnel and the Callahan Tunnel, it carries the final segment of Interstate 90 (the Massachusetts Turnpike) ...
(as overhead wires are expressly prohibited on interstate highways
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
), so the Waterfront section uses dual-mode bus
A dual-mode bus is a bus that can run independently on power from two different sources, typically electricity from overhead lines like a trolleybus or from batteries like a hybrid bus, alternated with conventional fossil fuel (generally diesel ...
es. The vehicles run as trolleybuses within the tunnel and for about on the surface, then change to diesel power at the end of Silver Line Way, and reverse the transition when inbound. Motor bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
es are not permitted to operate inside the South Boston Waterfront tunnel due to insufficient ventilation.
Four routes run in the electrified Silver Line tunnel: SL1 to Logan Airport, SL2 to Design Center, SL3 to Chelsea, and a shuttle route which short turn
In public transport, a short turn, short working or turn-back is an earlier terminus on a bus or rail line that is used on some scheduled trips that do not operate along the full length of the route.
Short turns are practical in scheduling when t ...
s at Silver Line Way.
Until February 2006, the Silver Line also used 12 of the then-new conventional-length Neoplan trackless trolleys until the entire articulated
An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were someti ...
, dual-mode fleet could be placed into service; they were temporarily "wrapped" in the Silver Line's silver paint scheme, covering the standard MBTA yellow-and-white. Only three of the 32 dual-mode buses on order had been accepted for service by the time the Silver Line opened, but the number had increased to 28 by February 2006. In fall 2005 (five vehicles) and the first half of 2006, the 12 Neoplan trackless trolleys were transferred to the Harvard-based routes to replace the then-remaining Flyer trolleybuses operating out of North Cambridge Carhouse.
Fleet
Past fleet
Boston's first trolleybuses were built by Pullman-Standard
The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century ...
in 1936. Boston Elevated continued to buy its trolleybuses almost exclusively from Pullman, and until 1950 Pullmans comprised the entire fleet with the exception of a small batch of five Twin Coach
Twin Coach was an American vehicle manufacturing company from 1927 to 1955, located in Kent, Ohio, and a maker of marine engines and airplane parts until the 1960s. It was formed by brothers Frank and William Fageol when they left the Fageol Mo ...
trolleybuses purchased in 1937. In 1952, Boston had more Pullman-built trolleybuses than any other city, with 438.[ Meanwhile, 25 ACF-]Brill
Brill may refer to:
Places
* Brielle (sometimes "Den Briel"), a town in the western Netherlands
* Brill, Buckinghamshire, a village in England
* Brill, Cornwall, a small village to the west of Constantine, Cornwall, UK
* Brill, Wisconsin, an un ...
trolleybuses built in 1950 were the only other purchase of non-Pullman trolleybuses until 1976. With several route closures in 1964, the Twin Coaches and the oldest Pullmans were retired, leaving only Pullmans built in 1947–51 in service.
These were all replaced in 1976–77 by a fleet of 50 Flyer E800s (4000–4049), the first of which arrived in February 1976 and entered service in April. The last Pullman-Standard trolleybuses were retired in August 1977. The Flyers were, in turn, replaced by new trolleybuses over the period 2004–06. Regular use of Flyers ended in June 2006, but a small number remained active and used very sporadically until March 2007. The only subsequent – and the final – use occurred on December 21, 2007, when the last two active Flyers (4006 and 4016) entered service briefly after all-night sleet-cutting duty (scraping ice off of the overhead wires).
In its final years the network that served Cambridge and vicinity used a fleet of 28 vehicles. The order for these was placed in December 2000, in a single contract with the vehicles for the Silver Line, but the first vehicle (4101) was not completed and delivered until 2003. Except for the first unit, these trolleybuses (numbered 4101–4128) were delivered in 2004 and were the first low-floor trolleybuses in North America.[Box, Roland (July–August 2010). "More about the 2000s". ''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 292, pp. 78–82. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .] The first day of service for trolleybuses in this series was June 4, 2004.[''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 257 (September–October 2004), p. 123.]
Current fleet
The present Silver Line fleet consists of 32 low-floor
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i.e ...
, articulated
An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were someti ...
dual-mode bus
A dual-mode bus is a bus that can run independently on power from two different sources, typically electricity from overhead lines like a trolleybus or from batteries like a hybrid bus, alternated with conventional fossil fuel (generally diesel ...
es (numbered 1101–1132). These were built by Neoplan USA
Neoplan Bus GmbH is a German automotive company that manufactures buses, trolleybuses and coaches. It is a subsidiary of MAN Truck & Bus SE.
History Foundations
The company was founded by Gottlob Auwärter in Stuttgart in 1935, and man ...
and fitted with Škoda
Škoda means ''pity'' in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to:
Czech brands and enterprises
* Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav
** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto respons ...
electrical equipment, and delivered in 2004–2005. Eight of the buses (1125–1132) were funded by Massport and came equipped with luggage racks for airport passengers (and fewer seats than the other buses, 38 instead of 47), for use on route SL1, which serves Logan International Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially ...
. In January 2011, four more buses (1121–1124) were also equipped with luggage racks in place of some seats.
See also
* List of trolleybus systems in the United States
This is a list of trolleybus systems in the United States by State. It includes all trolleybus systems, past and present. About 65Murray, Alan (2000). ''World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia''. Yateley, Hampshire, UK: Trolleybooks. . trolleybus sy ...
References
External links
MBTA – Bus
MBTA – Route 71 Watertown Square–Harvard Station via Mt. Auburn St.
MBTA – Route 72 Huron Ave.–Harvard Station via Concord Ave.
MBTA – Route 73 Waverley Sq.–Harvard Station via Trapelo Road
MBTA – Route 77 Arlington Heights–Harvard Station via Massachusetts Ave.
{{UStrolleybus
MBTA bus
Transportation in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
Trolleybus transport in the United States
1936 establishments in Massachusetts