Green Line "C" Branch

GREEN LINE "C" BRANCH Beacon Street Line
An outbound train at St. Marys Street station
Overview
Type	Light rail
System	MBTA
Locale	Greater Boston
Termini	North Station Cleveland Circle
Stations	22
Daily ridership	14,579 (2010 typical weekday, counts boardings from surface stops only)[1]
Operation
Opened	October 23, 1932
Owner	MBTA
Operator(s)	MBTA
Character	Underground (Kenmore and eastward) Dedicated Lane ROW (west of Kenmore)
Rolling stock	Kinki Sharyo Type 7 Ansaldobreda Type 8
Technical
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map "E" Branch Orange Line North Station  Orange Line  Haymarket  Orange Line  Orange Line Government Center  Blue Line  Tremont Street Subway Park Street  Red   Orange   Silver  Boylston  Silver Line  Boylston Street Subway Arlington Copley Copley Junction "E" Branch Hynes Convention Center Kenmore "B" Branch "D" Branch St. Mary's Street Portal St. Marys Street Hawes Street Kent Street St. Paul Street Coolidge Corner Summit Avenue Brandon Hall Fairbanks Washington Square Tappan Street Dean Road Englewood Avenue Cleveland Circle Reservoir "D" Branch

The "C" Branch, also called the Beacon Street Line or Cleveland Circle Line, is one of four branches of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Green Line light rail system in the Boston, Massachusetts metropolitan area. The line begins at Cleveland Circle in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston and runs on the surface through Brookline along the median of Beacon Street. Reentering Boston, the line goes underground through the St. Marys Street Incline and joins the "B" and "D" Branches at Kenmore. Trains run through the Boylston Street Subway to Copley where the "E" Branch joins, then continue through the Tremont Street Subway to downtown Boston. As of 2017, the "C" Branch terminates at North Station; further service to Lechmere is provided by the "E" Branch.

Traffic signals

The C Branch runs in a dedicated median but has many street crossings

The "C" branch runs on a dedicated median on Beacon Street in Brookline, with a total of 18 grade crossings at major cross streets.^[2] Like on its sister "B" branch, "C" branch streetcars must stop on traffic signals at street crossings. The signals on Beacon Street in Brookline could in theory be prioritized to make the Green Line run faster. However, the MBTA, which would be expected to pay for the streetcar sensors, does not consider the project to be cost-effective.^[3] In 2007, the Boston Globe published letters from riders who are in favor of these sensors,^[4] a letter from the MBTA spokesperson arguing that a major study is needed before the MBTA spends money,^[5] and a letter arguing that the T's spokesperson is giving too many excuses.^[6]

In January 2008, the MBTA hired a consultant to study the issue.^[7] As of 2011, the Town of Brookline was considering formally asking the MBTA to cooperate in setting up traffic signal prioritization to speed up Green Line trains on Beacon Street.^[8]

In Mayor Marty Walsh's "Go Boston 2030" plan, prioritizing traffic signals on Beacon Street was a proposed idea. The plan indicated that the project is planned to be completed within five years.^[9]

History

A Beacon Street/Cleveland Circle PCC streetcar, #3295 preserved at Boylston station

Now-discontinued Boeing US Standard Light Rail Vehicle near St. Marys Street in 2005

The St. Marys Street Portal connects the C branch to the Boylston Street Subway

The first tracks on Beacon Street were laid in 1888, running from Massachusetts Avenue west to Coolidge Corner. The next year the rest of the line to Cleveland Circle opened, with access to the Reservoir Carhouse. In 1889, the first electric streetcar route (see Green Line "A" Branch) used Beacon Street from Coolidge Corner east to Massachusetts Avenue, then ran south on Massachusetts Avenue and east on Boylston Street to Park Square. That same year the line on Beacon Street to Cleveland Circle was electrified.

Another connection to the Beacon Street line was provided at Washington Square; streetcars came from Brookline Village along Washington Street and turned west on Beacon Street. This line was later extended north on Chestnut Hill Avenue and west on Commonwealth Avenue to Boston College and was the predecessor of the 65 bus route.

On September 1, 1897, the Tremont Street Subway opened and then or soon after Beacon Street service began to run into it via the Boylston Street Portal at the Public Garden, turning around at Park Street. On October 3, 1914, the Boylston Street Subway extended the underground portion to the Kenmore Incline just east of Kenmore Square, and the underground Kenmore and the St. Marys Street Incline extended it west on October 23, 1932.

Until 1967, when it was named the "C" Branch, the Beacon Street route had the map number 61.

Beacon Street service was extended from Park Street to Lechmere on February 7, 1931. Since then, Beacon Street service has had the following east terminals:^[10]

• November 20, 1961: cut back from Lechmere to North Station all but Sundays
• March 25, 1967: extended to Lechmere all times
• June–September 1968: cut back to Government Center Sundays, restored to Lechmere afterwards
• March 21, 1980: cut back to Government Center all but rush hours
• June 21, 1980: extended to Lechmere all times
• April 4, 1981: cut back to Park Street
• June 26, 1982: extended to Government Center
• July 30, 1983: extended to North Station
• March 28, 1997: cut back to Government Center
• January 1, 2005: extended to North Station

As of 2017, regular C service terminates at North Station.

Station listing

Washington Square station

A train pulls out of Cleveland Circle to change direction for an inbound trip

Station	Location	Time to Park Street[11]	Transfers and notes
North Station to Kenmore segment shared by other Green Line branches
St. Marys Street	Beacon Street at St. Marys Street	19 minutes	CT2 bus to Sullivan or Ruggles
Hawes Street	Beacon Street at Hawes Street	20 minutes
Kent Street	Beacon Street at Powell Street	21 minutes
St. Paul Street	Beacon Street at St. Paul Street	22 minutes
Coolidge Corner	Beacon Street at Harvard Street	24 minutes	66 Bus to Harvard Square or Dudley
Summit Avenue	Beacon Street at Summit Avenue	25 minutes	Used to be named Winchester Street.
Brandon Hall	Beacon Street across from Brandon Hall	26 minutes
Fairbanks	Beacon Street at Fairbanks Avenue	27 minutes
Washington Square	Beacon Street at Washington Street	28 minutes	65 Bus to Kenmore Square or Brighton Center
Tappan Street	Beacon Street at Tappan Street	29 minutes
Dean Road	Beacon Street at Dean Road	30 minutes
Englewood Avenue	Beacon Street at Englewood Avenue	31 minutes
Cleveland Circle	Beacon Street at Chestnut Hill Avenue	32 minutes	Nearby to Reservoir and Chestnut Hill Avenue stations

No stations on the "C" Branch have MBTA parking, although some have a small number of locally controlled parking spots. The only stations with MBTA parking served by "C" streetcars are North Station and Haymarket, which also serve "E" Branch streetcars.^[12]

All of the street-level "C" branch stations from St. Marys Street to Englewood Avenue are in Brookline; all the underground subway stops and the Cleveland Circle terminus in the Brighton neighborhood are in Boston.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Green Line "C" Branch.

• MBTA - Green Line "C" Branch