Blue Line (MBTA)

Blue Line
An eastbound Blue Line train entering State station in 2024
Overview
LocaleBoston and Revere, Massachusetts
Termini
Stations12
Service
TypeRapid transit
SystemMBTA subway
Rolling stockSiemens Type 5 East Boston
Daily ridership44,000 (2023)[1]
History
Opened1904 (streetcar)[2]
1924 (rapid transit)
1952–1954 (Revere extension)
Technical
Line length6.0 miles (9.7 km)
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
ElectrificationOverhead line (east of Airport) or third rail (west of Airport), 600 V DC
Route map
Map
Lynn
(proposed)
Newburyport/Rockport Line
River Works
(proposed)
Newburyport/Rockport Line
Wonderland
Revere Beach
Beachmont
Suffolk Downs
Orient Heights Yard
Orient Heights
Wood Island
Airport Logan International Airport
Silver Line (MBTA)
Maverick
Aquarium
State
Orange Line (MBTA)
Court Street (closed 1914)
Government Center
Green Line (MBTA)
Bowdoin
Joy Street Portal
closed 1952
Charles/MGH (proposed)
Red Line (MBTA)

The Blue Line is a rapid transit line in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, one of four rapid transit lines operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). It runs from Bowdoin station in downtown Boston under Boston Harbor to East Boston and Revere on the inner North Shore, where it terminates at Wonderland. The stop at Airport Station, by way of a free shuttle bus, is one of two rapid transit connections to Logan International Airport. In 1967, during a systemwide rebranding, the line was assigned the blue color because it passes under the Boston Harbor.[3][4][5] With an end-to-end travel time of less than twenty minutes, the Blue Line is the shortest of Boston's heavy-rail lines and the only line to have both third rail and overhead catenary sections.

The East Boston Tunnel was built as a streetcar tunnel in 1904 with Howard A. Carson as chief engineer; after an extension to Bowdoin in 1916, it was converted to heavy rail metro rolling stock in 1924. In 1952 and 1954 the line was extended along the former route of the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad, in a project intended to reach Lynn but ultimately cut short to Wonderland. Further extensions to Lynn and Charles/MGH downtown are long-planned but not yet funded. From approximately 1998–2011, the MBTA made most Blue Line stations fully accessible as part of a larger effort to accommodate 6-car trains on the line. As of 2018, the only station in service on the Blue Line which is not fully accessible is the downtown Boston terminus Bowdoin.

  1. ^ O'Hara, Mary Ann; Turners, Pat (August 22, 2024). "History of Funding Update" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. p. 2.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference nycsubway was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference netransit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference chronicle was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Curiosity Carcards" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2016.