Highland branch

Highland branch
Double railroad tracks beneath street level with a multistory station building and business district to one side
Newton Centre station after the 1905–1907 grade crossing project lowered the right-of-way
Overview
StatusClosed
LocaleBoston, Massachusetts
Service
SystemBoston and Albany Railroad
History
Opened1886 (1886)
Closed1958 (1958)
Technical
Line length12.25 mi (19.71 km)
CharacterGrade-separated double track
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map

0 mi
0 km
Boston South Station
1.2 mi
1.9 km
Trinity Place/Huntington Avenue
Brookline Junction
3.02 mi
4.86 km
Chapel
(closed 1893)
3.16 mi
5.09 km
Longwood
3.89 mi
6.26 km
Brookline
4.43 mi
7.13 km
Brookline Hills
5.20 mi
8.37 km
Beaconsfield
5.20 mi
8.37 km
Reservoir
6.65 mi
10.7 km
Chestnut Hill
8.11 mi
13.05 km
Newton Centre
8.94 mi
14.39 km
Newton Highlands
Cook Street Junction
Charles River Branch
to Woonsocket
9.70 mi
15.61 km
Eliot
10.54 mi
16.96 km
Waban
11.56 mi
18.6 km
Woodland
12.25 mi
19.71 km
Riverside
Riverside Junction
Charles River
Newton Lower Falls Branch
to Newton Lower Falls
Boston and Albany Railroad
to Albany

The Highland branch, also known as the Newton Highlands branch, was a suburban railway line in Boston, Massachusetts. It was opened by the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1886 to serve the growing community of Newton, Massachusetts. The line was closed in 1958 and sold to the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), the predecessor of the current Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which reopened it in 1959 as a light rail line, now known as the D branch of the Green Line.

The first section of what became the Highland branch was built by the Boston and Worcester Railroad between Boston and Brookline in 1848. The Charles River Branch Railroad, a forerunner of the New York and New England Railroad, extended the line to Newton Upper Falls in 1852. The B&A bought the line in 1883 and extended to Riverside, rejoining its main line there. The MTA electrified the line when it rebuilt it for light rail use.

The conversion of the Highland branch into a light rail line was pioneering in several ways. Amid a backdrop of failing private passenger service in the United States, it was the first time a government entity in that country had assumed full responsibility for losses on a route. It was also the only example of converting an extant commuter rail line to light rail use.