MBTA subway

MBTA subway
Red Line train entering Alewife station in April 2024
Overview
Locale	Greater Boston, Massachusetts
Number of lines	3 heavy rail (Red, Orange, Blue) 2 light rail (Green, Ashmont–Mattapan) 1 bus rapid transit (Silver)
Number of stations	153 (list of stations)
Annual ridership	85,397,200 (heavy rail, 2023) 34,581,000 (light rail, 2023)[1]
Website	mbta.com
Operation
Began operation	September 1, 1897 (Tremont Street subway)
Operator(s)	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)
Train length	6 cars (rapid transit) 1-3 cars (light rail)
Technical
System length	68.7 mi (110.6 km) – rail
System map Diagram does not include  Silver Line  Legend Oak Grove Malden Center Wellington  E  Medford/​Tufts Assembly Ball Square Sullivan Square Gilman Square Community College East Somerville Wonderland  D  Union Square Revere Beach Lechmere Beachmont Science Park Suffolk Downs North Station Orient Heights Haymarket Wood Island Alewife Airport Davis Maverick Porter Aquarium Harvard State Central Government Center  B   C  Kendall/MIT Bowdoin Charles/MGH Park Street Boylston Downtown Crossing Arlington Chinatown Copley Tufts Medical Center Prudential Back Bay Symphony Massachusetts Avenue Northeastern University Ruggles Museum of Fine Arts Roxbury Crossing Longwood Medical Area Jackson Square Brigham Circle Stony Brook Fenwood Road Green Street Mission Park Forest Hills Riverway JFK/UMass Back of the Hill Savin Hill  E  Heath Street Fields Corner Hynes Convention Center Shawmut Kenmore Ashmont Blandford Street Cedar Grove Boston University East Butler Boston University Central Milton Amory Street Central Avenue Babcock Street Valley Road Packards Corner Capen Street Harvard Avenue Mattapan Griggs Street North Quincy Allston Street Wollaston Warren Street Quincy Center Washington Street Quincy Adams Sutherland Road Braintree Chiswick Road Fenway Chestnut Hill Avenue Longwood South Street Brookline Village  B  Boston College Brookline Hills Saint Mary's Street Beaconsfield Hawes Street Reservoir Coolidge Corner Chestnut Hill Summit Avenue Newton Centre Brandon Hall Newton Highlands Fairbanks Street Eliot Washington Square Waban Tappan Street Woodland Dean Road Riverside  D  Englewood Avenue  C  Cleveland Circle Key Blue Line Red Line Green Line Ashmont–Mattapan Line Orange Line This diagram: view talk edit

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates rapid transit (heavy rail), light rail, and bus rapid transit services in the Boston metropolitan area, collectively referred to as the rapid transit, subway, the T system, or simply the T.^[2]

The color-branded lines consist of three heavy rail lines (Red, Orange, and Blue), one branched light rail system (Green), and a short light rail line (the Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line, colored as part of the Red Line). All except the Ashmont–Mattapan line operate in tunnels in the downtown area, but no route operates entirely underground, and only 31 out of the system's 153 stations are located underground. The five branches of the Silver Line bus network are also shown as part of the rapid transit system. Three branches operate underground and charge rapid transit fares; two branches operate entirely on the surface and charge lower bus fares.

In 2023, the heavy rail lines had 85,397,200 rides,^[1] or about 267,700 per weekday^[3] in the third quarter of 2024, and comprised the fourth-busiest heavy rail system in the United States. In the same period, the light rail lines had 34,581,000 rides, or about 102,500 per weekday, and comprised the third-busiest light rail system in the United States.

The section of the Tremont Street subway between Park Street and Boylston Street stations, now on the Green Line, opened in 1897, making it the oldest transit subway in North America still in use (only the short-lived Beach Pneumatic Transit demonstration line in New York City was built before).