text: orange line ( mbta ) the orange line is one of the four subway lines of the massachusetts bay transportation authority . it extends from forest hills in jamaica plain , boston in the south to oak grove in malden in the north . it meets the red line at downtown crossing , the blue line at state , and the green line at haymarket and north station . it connects with amtrak service at back bay and north station , and mbta commuter rail service at back bay , north station , ruggles station in roxbury , and forest hills . from 1901 to 1987 , it provided the first elevated rapid transit in boston ; the last elevated section was torn down in 1987 when the southern portion of the line was moved to the southwest corridor . all stations on the orange line are handicapped accessible . these stations are equipped with high - level platforms for easy boarding , as well as elevators for easy platform access . history construction the main line of the electric boston elevated railway opened in segments , starting in 1901 . it proceeded from sullivan square along the charlestown elevated to the canal street incline near north station . it was carried underground by the tremont street subway ( now part of the green line ) , returning above ground at the pleasant street incline ( now closed , located just south of boylston station ) . a temporary link connected from there to the washington street elevated , which in 1901 ran from this point via washington street to dudley square ( which is most of what is now phase 1 of the silver line ) . also in 1901 , the atlantic avenue elevated opened , branching at causeway street to provide an alternate route through downtown boston ( along the shoreline , where today there is no rail transit ) to the washington street elevated . in 1908 , a new washington street tunnel opened , allowing main line service to travel from the charlestown elevated , underground via an additional new portal at the canal street incline , under downtown boston and back up again to meet the washington street elevated and atlantic avenue elevated near chinatown . use of the parallel tremont street subway was returned exclusively to streetcars . by 1909 , the washington street elevated had been extended south to forest hills . trains from washington street were routed through the new subway , either all the way to sullivan square , or back around in a loop via the subway and then the atlantic avenue elevated . in 1919 , the charlestown elevated was extended north from sullivan square to everett , over surface right - of - way parallel to alford street / broadway , with a drawbridge over the mystic river . the boston elevated had long - term plans to continue this extension further north to malden , a goal which would only be achieved decades later , under public ownership and not via the everett route . closure of atlantic avenue elevated and ownership changes following a 1928 accident at a tight curve on beach street , the southern portion of the atlantic avenue elevated , between south station and tower d on washington street , was closed ( except for rush - hour trips from dudley to north station via the elevated ) , breaking the loop ; non - rush - hour atlantic avenue service was reduced to a shuttle between north and south stations . in 1938 , the remainder of the atlantic avenue elevated was closed , leaving the subway as the only route through downtown - what is now the orange line between haymarket and chinatown stations . ownership of the railway was transferred from the private boston elevated railway to the public metropolitan transit authority ( mta ) in 1947 ; the mta was itself reconstituted as the modern massachusetts bay transportation authority ( mbta ) in 1964 . orange line naming the line was known as the main line elevated under the boston elevated railway , and the forest hills – everett elevated ( route 2 on maps ) under the metropolitan transportation authority . after taking over operations in august 1964 , the mbta began rebranding many elements of boston 's public transportation network . on august 26 , 1965 , the four rapid transit lines were assigned colored names related to their history and geography . the elevated became the orange line after orange street , an old name for the section of washington street immediately south of downtown , under which the washington street tunnel runs . when designing the rebranding , cambridge seven associates originally planned for yellow instead of orange , but yellow was rejected after testing . in january and february 1967 , the four original washington street tunnel stations were renamed . transfer stations were given the same name for all lines : winter and summer stations plus washington on the red line became washington , milk and state plus devonshire on the blue line became state street after the cross street , and union and friend plus haymarket square on the green line became haymarket after haymarket square . boylston street was renamed essex to avoid confusion with nearby boylston station on the green line . in may 1987 , essex was renamed chinatown after the adjacent chinatown neighborhood , and washington renamed downtown crossing after the adjacent shopping district . in march 2010 , new england medical center station was renamed as tufts medical center two years after the eponymous hospital changed its name . of charlestown and everett service the boston transportation planning review looked at the line in the 1970s , considering extensions to reach the beltway route 128 , with termini at reading in the north and dedham in the south . as a result of this review , the charlestown elevated - which served the charlestown neighborhood north of downtown boston and the inner suburb everett - was demolished and replaced in 1975 . the haymarket north extension rerouted the orange line through an underwater crossing of the charles river . service in charlestown was replaced with service along boston and maine tracks routed partially beneath an elevated section of interstate 93 , ultimately to wellington and then to oak grove in malden , massachusetts instead of everett . rail service to everett was replaced with buses . closure of washington street elevated construction of interstate 95 into downtown boston was cancelled in 1972 after local protest over the necessary demolition . however , land for i - 95 's southwest corridor through roxbury had already been cleared of buildings ; moreover , the state had already committed to using this vacant land for transportation purposes . as a result , instead of an 8 - lane interstate highway with a relocated orange line running in its median ( in a manner similar to the chicago transit authority 's dan ryan and congress and jefferson park lines ) , the space would be occupied by the realigned orange line , a reconstructed three - track mainline for amtrak 's northeast corridor and mbta commuter rail trains , and a linear park . after this re - routing was accomplished in 1987 , the washington street elevated was torn down , the last major segment of the original elevated line to be demolished . between april 30 and may 3 , 1987 , the washington street elevated south of the chinatown station was closed to allow the orange line to be tied into the new southwest corridor . on may 4 , 1987 , the orange line was rerouted from the southern end of the washington street tunnel onto the new southwest corridor . instead of rising up to elevated tracks , it now veered west at the massachusetts turnpike and followed the pike and the old boston and albany railroad right - of - way to the existing mbta commuter rail stop at back bay . it then continued along new tracks , partially covered and partially open but depressed , to forest hills . this mbta right - of - way is also shared by amtrak as part of the national northeast corridor intercity passenger rail service . while ending more or less at the same terminus ( forest hills ) , the new routing bypassed significantly to the west of its previous route on washington street ; local residents were promised replacement service . originally , plans provided for light rail vehicles street running in mixed traffic , from washington street to dudley square , then diverting southeastward on warren street towards dorchester . in 2002 , phase 1 of the silver line bus rapid transit was added to connect washington street to the downtown subways , attempting to address this service need . this replacement service was controversial , as many residents preferred the return of rail transportation . renovations during the big dig haymarket and north station received major renovations during the big dig in the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century , as the causeway street elevated portion of the green line was buried , its physical connection to the orange line was improved to make transfers easier , the canal street incline was finally closed , and the green line was re - rerouted through a new portal closer to the river , near the bunker hill bridge . assembly in the early 2000s , somerville began planning an infill station between sullivan and wellington to serve the new assembly square development . the $ 57 million station was funded by the state 's executive office of housing and economic development , fta section new starts program , and federal realty investment trust ( the developer of assembly square ) . construction began in late 2011 and finished in mid 2014 . the new station , assembly , opened on september 2 , 2014 . it was the first new station on the mbta subway system since 1987 . winter issues and resiliency work during the unusually brutal winter of 2014 - 2015 , the entire mbta system was shut down on several occasions by heavy snowfalls . the aboveground sections of the orange and red lines were particularly vulnerable due to their exposed third rail , which iced over during storms . when a single train stopped due to power loss , other trains soon stopped as well ; without continually running trains pushing snow off the rails , the lines were quickly covered in snow . ( because the blue line was built with overhead lines on its surface section due to its proximity to corrosive salt air , it was not subject to icing issues . ) during 2015 , the mbta is implementing its $ 83 . 7 million winter resiliency program , much of which focused on preventing similar issues with the orange and red lines . the southwest corridor section of the orange line is located in a trench and is protected from the worst weather , but the 1970s - built haymarket north extension had older infrastructure and was in worse shape . from sullivan square north , it is exposed to the weather and largely built on an embankment , rendering it more vulnerable . that section is receiving new heated third rail , switch heaters , and snow fences to reduce the impacts of inclement weather . the work requires of the line from sullivan square to oak grove on many weeknights . historical routes station listing rolling stock the " t " previously had a fleet of pullman - standard heavy rail cars for the orange line . these cars , known as , had been in service since the 1950s , and saw service on both the elevated and the northern extension before they were retired in 1981 . several remained on the property for some time before being scrapped . the cars were a favorite for fans , as the small motorman 's cab enabled passengers to stand at the front for an operator 's - eye view . the orange line is standard gauge heavy rail and uses a third rail for power . the current fleet is the series , built between 1979 and 1981 by hawker siddeley canada car and foundry ( now bombardier transportation ) of thunder bay , ontario , canada . they are 65 feet ( 20 m ) long and 9 ft 3 in ( 2 . 8 m ) wide , with three pairs of doors on each side . they are based on the model used by path in new jersey . there are 120 cars , numbered - . all in - service orange line trains run in six - car configurations . new trains in late 2008 , the mbta began the planning process for new orange and red line vehicles . the agency planned for a simultaneous order for 146 orange line cars ( to replace the whole fleet ) and 74 red line cars ( to replace the older 1500 and 1600 series cars ) . a similar order was used in the late 1970s for the current orange line cars and the old blue line cars , ordered at the same time and largely identical except for size . in october 2013 , massdot announced plans for a $ 1 . 3 billion subway car order for the orange and red lines , which would provide 152 new cars to replace the current 120 - car fleet and add more frequent service . on october 22 , 2014 , the massdot board awarded chinese manufacturer cnr a $ 566 . 6 million contract to build 152 replacement railcars for the orange line , as well as additional cars for the red line . cnr will build the type b cars at a new manufacturing plant in springfield , massachusetts , with initial deliveries expected in 2018 and all cars in service by 2023 . in conjunction with the new rolling stock , the remainder of the $ 1 . 3 billion allocated for the project will pay for testing , signal improvements and expanded maintenance facilities , as well as other related expenses . while waiting for new cars , service has deteriorated due to maintenance problems with the old cars . the number of trains at rush hour was reduced from 17 ( 102 cars ) to 16 ( 96 cars ) in 2011 ; in the same year , daily ridership surpassed 200 , 000 . increased running times - largely due to longer dwell times from increased ridership - resulted in headways being lengthened from 5 minutes before 2011 to 6 minutes in 2016 . the increased fleet size with the new trains will allow headways to be reduced to 4 to 5 minutes at peak . in the interim , a 2016 test of platform markings at north station which show boarding passengers where to stand to avoid blocking alighting passengers , resulted in a one - third decrease in dwell times . facilities the orange line has two tracks ( one in each direction ) and a third track between wellington and the charles river portal . this track is used to bypass construction on the other two , and for testing newly delivered cars for the orange and blue lines . the primary maintenance and storage facility is at wellington station . had the orange line been extended to reading , the third track would have been the northbound local track and the present - day northbound track would have become the express track .