The Boston-area trolleybus (or, as known locally, trackless trolley) system formed part of the public transportation network serving Greater Boston in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It opened on April 11, 1936, with a large network operating for the next quarter-century. Measured by fleet size, the Boston-area system was the second-largest trolleybus system in the United States at its peak (end of 1952), with only the Chicago system having more trolleybuses than Boston's 463 (with the Atlanta system being close behind Boston, with 453).Carson, O.E. Gene (January–March 1997). "Atlanta [Part 1]". Motor Coach Age, pp. 3–29. After 1963, the only remaining portion was a four-route cluster operating from the Harvard bus tunnel at Harvard station, running through Cambridge, Belmont, and Watertown. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority took over the routes in 1964.
The system was expanded by the Silver Line (Waterfront), a 2004-opened bus rapid transit network using dual-mode buses which ran as trolleybuses in a tunnel in the Seaport District of Boston before switching to diesel power to serve other destinations. The Harvard lines were converted to diesel hybrid buses in 2022, followed by the Silver Line in 2023.
History
The first trackless trolley line in the Boston transit system was opened by the Boston Elevated Railway (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 east to Lechmere station. (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 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 (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, including Boston 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 routes 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 NumberTerminiMajor streets servedDate begunDate endedKane SquareDudley stationHancock St, Dudley StFranklin ParkAndrew stationColumbia RdFields Corner stationAndrew stationGeneva Ave, Bowdoin St, Hancock St, Columbia RdFields Corner stationDudley stationGeneva Ave, Warren St20Fields Corner stationNeponsetNeponset AveAshmont stationDudley stationTalbot Ave, Blue Hill Ave, Warren StAshmont stationDudley stationTalbot Ave, Washington St (Dorchester), Warren StCleary SquareForest Hills stationHyde Park AveDedham lineForest Hills stationWashington StCharles River Loop, West RoxburyForest Hills stationSpring St, Centre St, Belgrade Ave, Washington StSeaver StDudley stationHumboldt AveGrove HallDudley stationBlue Hill Ave, Dudley StWatertown SquareCentral Square, CambridgeArsenal St, Western AveWatertown SquareHarvard stationMount Auburn StAberdeen Ave & Mount Auburn StHarvard stationAberdeen Ave, Huron Ave, Concord AveWaverley stationHarvard stationTrapelo Rd, Belmont St, Mount Auburn St76Harvard stationMassachusetts stationMassachusetts Ave77Harvard stationLechmere stationCambridge St (Cambridge)Arlington CenterLechmere stationMedford St (Arlington), Boston Ave, College Ave, Broadway (Somerville), Medford St (Somerville), McGrath Highway81Arlington CenterClarendon HillBroadway (Arlington)82/North Cambridge carhouseHarvard stationMassachusetts AveClarendon HillLechmere stationSomerville Ave, McGrath HighwayClarendon HillLechmere stationHighland Ave, McGrath HighwayArlington CenterSullivan Square stationBroadway (Arlington/Somerville)Davis SquareSullivan Square stationHighland Ave, Cross St (Somerville), Broadway (Somerville)Salem St & Fellsway, MedfordSullivan Square stationSalem St, Main St (Medford), Broadway (Somerville)102Faulkner, MaldenMalden SquareCross St (Malden), Main St (Malden)103Malden SquareEverett stationMain St (Malden)Malden SquareEverett stationFerry St, Broadway (Everett)Faulkner, MaldenEverett stationCross St (Malden), Main St (Malden)Lebanon, MaldenEverett stationLebanon St, Salem St, Main St (Malden)Linden, MaldenEverett stationEastern Ave, Broadway (Everett)Broadway & Park Ave, Revere(Woodlawn before September 7, 1940)Everett stationPark Ave, Elm St, Ferry St, Chelsea St (Everett), Broadway (Everett)112Malden SquareChelsea SquareFerry St, Broadway (Everett), Chelsea St (Everett), Everett Ave113Malden SquareChelsea SquareFerry St, Chelsea St (Everett), Everett AveWoodlawnMaverick stationWashington Ave, Pearl St (Chelsea), Meridian St115WoodlawnWood Island stationCentral Ave (Chelsea, Chelsea St (East Boston)Wonderland stationWood Island stationOcean Ave, Revere St, Broadway (Revere), Central Ave (Chelsea), Chelsea St (East Boston)Wonderland stationWood Island stationOcean Ave, Beach St, Broadway (Revere), Central Ave (Chelsea), Chelsea St (East Boston)118Revere carhouseOrient Heights stationBroadway (Revere), Revere St, Ocean Ave, Bennington StOrient Heights stationMaverick stationBennington St, Meridian StWood Island stationMaverick stationLexington St, Meridian St
Harvard-based routes History
What became the Harvard-based trolleybus system began as branches of the Cambridge Railroad, a horsecar street railway 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. 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 during the Northwest Extension of the MBTA Red Line), 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 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, 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. 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 led MBTA to decide to substitute diesel hybrid buses for trolleybuses at that time.
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, to replace Flyer E800 trolleybuses dating from 1976. The newer vehicles were low-floor vehicles and met Americans with Disabilities Act standards (see MBTA accessibility).
Operations