Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Boston Subway: Red Line Centenary

Boston Green Line Car
Boston has the oldest subway system in  the USA.  The Tremont Street Subway opened in 1897 connecting Park Street Station to Boylston Steet Station.   It was originally a tunnel used to get streetcar rails off the congested steets.   Later,  the benefits of rapid transit became apparent.  The tunnel is still in use on the Green Line.





Boston:  Red Line Train
The MBTA Red Line is relatively new; It opened in March  of 1912.    The Red Line is a full-size "metro" rail line using 600 V DC third-rail power.   The original cars were large for the time:   21 meters long,  43 tons  (all steel).   Currently,  stainless steel and aluminum framed cars are in use.   The line is about 18 miles long  (Braintree to Alewife stations).  End to end travel time is about 50 minutes (the average speed is about 22 mph including stops). 

The Boston  subway system  is nicknamed  "the T",  a truncation of  MBTA and it's earlier incarnation, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA).  This is not to be confused with New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority which is also called the MTA.


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