Boston-area streetcar lines

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Lines remaining in 1940

As with many large cities, a large number of Boston-area streetcar lines once existed. However, only a few remain, namely the four branches of the Green Line and the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line, with only one (the Green Line "E" Branch) running regular service on an undivided street.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was formed on August 3, 1964, taking over operations from the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). The MTA itself was formed in 1947 to take over operations of the private Boston Elevated Railway (BERy), which ran rapid transit, streetcars and buses in the Boston area.

In 1936, the BERy assigned numbers to its routes for map use, but route numbers were not used on buses until the late 1960s (when the colors were assigned to the remaining rail lines). [1] Additionally, the numbers were only kept the same on and after the 1942 revision of the map; before that they were changed with each new version. A few routes were renumbered around 1967, but most routes have kept their original numbers. Routes were numbered roughly clockwise from South Boston to East Boston.

This is a table of when each streetcar line was converted to trackless trolley or bus. Only information post-1940 is complete.

Routes:	4/Green Line "D" 7 9 10 11 15 16 17 19 20 22 23 25 26 27 28/Red Line Mattapan 29 30 30A/28 32 34 36 39/Green Line "E" (Arborway) 40 41 42 43 44 45 47/1 48 57/Green Line "E" (Heath) 58 60 61/Green Line "C" 62/Green Line "B" 65 66 69/Green Line "A"/57 70 71 72 73 76 77/69 79/77 80 82/77A 87 88 89 92 93 100 101 111 114 115 116 117 118 119 121 122

Last day of streetcars	Route	Notes
Still operational	4 Riverside - Subway	Renamed Green Line "D" Branch ca. 1967
	28 Mattapan - Ashmont	Renamed Red Line Mattapan Branch ca. 1967
	57 Heath Street - Subway	Renamed Green Line "E" Branch (short-turn) ca. 1967
	61 Cleveland Circle - Subway	Renamed Green Line "C" Branch ca. 1967
	62 Boston College - Subway	Renamed Green Line "B" Branch ca. 1967
December 27, 1985	39 Arborway - Subway	Renamed Green Line "E" Branch ca. 1967, reverted to 39 when bustituted
June 20, 1969	69 Watertown - Subway	Renamed Green Line "A" Branch ca. 1967, and numbered 57 when bustituted
October 28, 1963	New configuration of downtown subway opens
April 5, 1962	Shuttle Pleasant Street - Boylston	Last service to the Pleasant Street Incline
November 17, 1961	43 Lenox Street - Subway	Closed June 14, 1956 from Egleston to Lenox Street
July 4, 1959	4 Riverside - Subway (Highland Branch) opens
September 4, 1958	71 Watertown - Harvard	Still trackless trolley
	73 Waverly - Harvard	Still trackless trolley
	82 North Cambridge - Harvard	Renumbered 77A ca. 1967 Still trackless trolley
June 14, 1956	43 Egleston - Subway	Cut back to Lenox Street
December 16, 1955	40 Arborway - Egleston
December 16, 1955	100 Elm Street - Sullivan	truncated to Elm Street in 1946 [2]
November 18, 1955	79 Arlington Heights - Harvard	Renumbered 77 ca. 1967
September 9, 1955	29 Mattapan - Egleston
January 19, 1954	Revere Extension opens to Wonderland
December 4, 1953	10 City Point - Dudley
September 12, 1953	47 Mass Station - Dudley	Renumbered 1 ca. 1967
June 19, 1953	7 City Point - South Station
April 24, 1953	30 Mattapan - Roslindale
	30A Mattapan - Arborway	Renumbered 28 ca. 1967
	32 Cleary Square - Arborway	Trackless trolley until September 30, 1958
March 1, 1953	9 City Point - Subway	Bus connected to subway shuttle at Pleasant Street Incline through December 4, 1953 [3]
November 21, 1952	34 Dedham Line - Arborway	Trackless trolley until September 5, 1958
April 21, 1952	Revere Extension opens to Suffolk Downs
January 5, 1952	Revere Extension opens to Orient Heights
January 4, 1952	114 Meridian - Maverick	Turned around at the south end of the closed Meridian Street Bridge Trackless trolley until March 30, 1961 (Woodlawn - Maverick, via the Meridian Street Bridge, reopened ca. 1954)
	115 Gladstone - Maverick	Short-turn of 118
	116 Revere Beach Loop - Maverick via Revere Street	Trackless trolley until September 8, 1961 (Wonderland - Wood Island)
	117 Revere Beach Loop - Maverick via Beach Street	Trackless trolley until September 8, 1961 (Wonderland - Wood Island)
	118 Revere Carhouse - Maverick via Ocean Avenue and Bennington Street	Trackless trolley until June 1955 (Wonderland - Orient Heights)
	121 Eagle Carhouse - Maverick via Lexington	Trackless trolley until March 30, 1961 (Wood Island - Maverick)
September 28, 1951	36 Charles River - Arborway	Trackless trolley until September 5, 1958
June 16, 1950	70 Watertown - Central	Trackless trolley until March 30, 1963
December 9, 1949	16 Franklin Park - Andrew	Trackless trolley until April 5, 1962
September 18, 1949	76 Harvard - Mass Station	Trackless trolley until March 30, 1960
September 16, 1949	42 Egleston - Dudley
July 1, 1949	93 Sullivan - Subway via Bunker Hill Street
June 7, 1949	41 Jamaica Plain - Dudley
April 23, 1949	122 Jefferies Point - Maverick
February 11, 1949	17 Fields Corner - Andrew via Meeting House Hill	Trackless trolley until April 5, 1962
January 28, 1949	44 Seaver - Dudley	Trackless trolley until March 30, 1961
January 7, 1949	19 Fields Corner - Dudley via Geneva Avenue	Trackless trolley until April 5, 1962
	22 Ashmont-Dudley via Talbot Avenue	Trackless trolley until April 5, 1962
	23 Ashmont-Dudley via Washington Street, Dorchester	Trackless trolley until April 6, 1962
December 24, 1948	15 Uphams Corner - Dudley	Trackless trolley until April 5, 1962 (Kane Square - Dudley)
December 24, 1948	45 Grove Hall - Dudley via Blue Hill Avenue	Trackless trolley until April 5, 1962
June 18, 1948	20 Fields Corner - Neponset	Trackless trolley until March 30, 1961
April 2, 1948	92 Sullivan - Subway via Main Street
April 18, 1947	101 Salem Street - Sullivan via Winter Hill	Trackless trolley until March 13, 1959
December 6, 1946	89 Clarendon Hill - Sullivan	Trackless trolley until March 29, 1963
November 7, 1941	87 Clarendon Hill - Lechmere via Somerville Avenue	Trackless trolley until March 29, 1963 Ran into the Subway via Lechmere until July 9, 1922
November 7, 1941	88 Clarendon Hill - Lechmere via Highland Avenue	Trackless trolley until March 29, 1963 Ran into the Subway via Lechmere until July 9, 1922
February 16, 1941	Huntington Avenue Subway opens, ending 39 and 57 service on eastern Huntington Avenue and Boylston Street, and service through the Boylston Street Incline
September 9, 1938	66 Allston - Dudley [4]
September 9, 1938	Brookline Village - Subway	Rush-hour only truncation of 58/60 (?) from 1932 Cut back to Brigham Circle short-turns
April 1, 1938	72 Huron Avenue - Harvard via Concord Avenue	Still trackless trolley
March 4, 1938	48 Dudley - Subway	Ran via Washington, Dudley and Tremont Streets into the Subway Replaced by Dudley - Tremont & Dover Streets bus Bus service ended February 1942 [5]
May 7, 1937	111 Woodlawn - Chelsea Square [6] [7]	Extended to City Square as a bus
October 9, 1936	119 Beachmont - Revere City Hall [8]
June 10, 1936	Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Chelsea division (routes 111 - 119) bought by BERy; some of these had run into the subway until 1935 [9]
April 10, 1936	77 Harvard - Lechmere via Cambridge Street [10]	Renumbered 69 ca. 1967 Trackless trolley until March 30, 1963 (first trackless trolley route) Ran into the Subway via Lechmere until July 9, 1922
1933	27 Ashmont - Milton?	Replaced with Ashmont - Mattapan bus?
October 23, 1932	Kenmore station opens, with a dual-pronged extension of the Boylston Street Subway
July 8, 1932	80 Arlington Center - Sullivan via Medford Hillside [11]	Replaced with Arlington Center - Lechmere bus, later trackless trolley until March 28, 1963 [12] Streetcar line opened August 31, 1901
1932	58 Cypress Street - Mass Station or Subway? [13]	Replaced with Cypress Street - Kenmore bus Brookline Village - Subway kept rush hours only
1932	60 Chestnut Hill - Mass Station or Subway? [14]	Replaced with Chestnut Hill - Kenmore bus Brookline Village - Subway kept rush hours only
1930	Dorchester Avenue [15]
ca. 1930	Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Hyde Park and Chelsea/Everett divisions sold to BERy [16]
December 21, 1929	28 (Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line) opens to Mattapan
August 26, 1929	28 (Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line) opens to Milton
January 18, 1929	11 Broadway? - Bay View [17]
late 1928 or early 1929	26 Dudley - Nelson & Norfolk Streets [18]	Replaced with Ashmont - Morton & Corbett Streets bus
late 1928	25 Andrew - Washington & Fairmount Streets [19]	Replaced with Ashmont - Washington Street & Gallivan Boulevard bus
September 1, 1928	Dorchester Extension opens to Ashmont
November 5, 1927	Dorchester Extension opens to Fields Corner
April 17, 1924	Last day of streetcars through the East Boston Tunnel
July 9, 1922	Last day of lines (77, 87, 88) entering the subway via Lechmere
1920s	65 Boston College - Brookline Village [20]
1920s	Sullivan - Dudley via Subway [21]
March 15, 1919	Charlestown Elevated opens to Everett
ca. 1919	Harvard Square - Jeffries Point via East Boston Tunnel [22]
unknown	21 Fields Corner - Adams Street	Merged with 20 September 1962 Was trackless trolley?
	81 Arlington Center - Clarendon Hill	Merged with 89 October 1961 Split off into 81 Arlington Center - Lechmere April 1953 Renumbered 87A ca. 1967 Trackless trolley until March 29, 1963
	90 Davis Square - Sullivan via Highland Avenue	Trackless trolley until November 14, 1956
	102 Malden - Faulkner via Main Street and Cross Street	Trackless trolley until March 28, 1963
	103 Malden - Everett via Main Street	Discontinued April 1962 Was trackless trolley
	104 Malden - Everett via Ferry Street and Broadway	Trackless trolley until March 29, 1963
	105 Faulkner - Everett via Cross Street and Main Street	Trackless trolley until March 29, 1963
	106 Lebanon Street - Everett via Salem Street, Malden Square and Main Street	Trackless trolley until March 29, 1963
	109 Linden - Everett via Broadway	Trackless trolley until March 29, 1963
	110 Wonderland or Broadway and Park Avenue - Everett via Everett Square	Trackless trolley until March 29, 1963
	111 Eagle Carhouse - City Square via Chelsea Square	Was trackless trolley?
	112 Malden Square - Chelsea Square via Everett Square	Trackless trolley until June 23, 1961
	113 Malden Square - Chelsea Square via Ferry Street	Trackless trolley until December 8, 1960 (no bustitution; the route was discontinued)
	113 Wonderland - Malden via Ferry Street	Unnumbered until ca. 1962 Trackless trolley summers 1954-1956
	120 Orient Heights - Maverick via Bennington Street	Trackless trolley until September 8, 1961