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34-613: The tunnel originally served five closely spaced stations: Boylston , Park Street, Scollay Square , Adams Square , and Haymarket , with branches to the Public Garden portal and Pleasant Street incline south of Boylston. Park Street, Scollay Square, and Haymarket stations were altered over the next two decades as transfers were added to the Cambridge–Dorchester subway , East Boston Tunnel , and Main Line Elevated (now part of

68-569: A 2012-dated proposal. The three original tunnel entrances were in the Boston Public Garden , at North Station/Canal Street , and at Pleasant Street. Over time, these portals were replaced and abandoned as the subway was extended. Vestiges of various closed portals are still visible inside the main Green Line's Boylston Street subway tunnel extending west of Boylston station towards Kenmore Square station. The western Public Garden portal

102-497: A century of continuous operation. The sub-passage between the platforms was closed around 1968, and permanently sealed off in 1981. In 1974, local students installed nine colorful panels in the station as part of the MBTA's arts program . The northbound outer track was removed in 1983. A planned renovation in 1986 was deferred due to the station's historic status, though the disused outer tracks were fenced off. The MBTA again planned

136-621: A renovation of the station – including elevators for accessibility – in 1990, but did not construct the project. In mid-2006, the MBTA installed brighter lighting at Boylston station, as well as modern electronic faregates and fare vending machines for the CharlieCard system. Plans for the South Boston Piers Transitway (later part of the Silver Line ) were approved in 1993, calling for a bus rapid transit level at Boylston under

170-482: A sub-passage connecting the platforms has been sealed. Construction of a proposed underground Silver Line station was proposed in the 1990s; that phase of the project was cancelled in 2010. Boylston was originally configured for four tracks with two island platforms, and the original track layout has remained essentially unchanged since then. The two outer tracks formerly led to the Pleasant Street incline . A stub of

204-543: Is a light rail station on the MBTA Green Line in downtown Boston, Massachusetts , located on the southeast corner of Boston Common at the intersection of Boylston Street and Tremont Street . A southbound street-level stop for the SL5 route of the bus rapid transit Silver Line is outside fare control . The station has two island platforms ; each has one disused track, making them effectively side platforms . Boylston

238-571: Is located at Arlington Street, and Copley station is at Dartmouth Street in Copley Square . The Huntington Avenue subway branches off to the south just to the west of Copley. The main line continues west under Boylston Street; at Hereford Street, it curves northward into Hynes Convention Center station at Massachusetts Avenue , then runs west under Newbury Street and the Muddy River and into Kenmore station at Kenmore Square . The depth of

272-476: Is not accessible for Green Line trains. Boylston station was opened in 1897 as part of the original segment of the Tremont Street subway . Originally used by streetcars, from 1901 to 1908 it also served Main Line Elevated trains. Unlike other Green Line stations, Boylston has been little modified, and retains much of its original appearance. Two of the original four headhouses have been removed, however, and

306-457: Is still original). Scollay Square station was rebuilt as Government Center station, and Adams Square station was closed. Much of the old northbound tunnel was filled in to support the City Hall foundation; another section was turned into a delivery tunnel. Another section was rediscovered by a City Hall employee in 1983; a 150-foot (46 m) piece was renovated for use as records storage. In 1971,

340-465: The East Boston Tunnel and Washington Street Tunnel incorporated this criticism into their more modest headhouses. In 1963, the northern part of the tunnel was extensively altered during the construction of Government Center and a new Boston City Hall on what had been the neighborhood of Scollay Square. The northbound tunnel to Haymarket station was rerouted to the west (the southbound tunnel

374-546: The Lenox Street line was substituted with buses. A shuttle service was run between Boylston and Pleasant Street until April 6, 1962, at which time the outer tracks at Boylston were closed. In 1964, the Tremont Street subway, including Boylston station, was designated a National Historic Landmark . Of the two original stations, Boylston retained more of its original appearance, having undergone only minimal changes in over

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408-538: The Red , Blue , and Orange Lines , respectively). Boylston and Park Street were built with rectangular stone headhouses designed by Edmund M. Wheelwright that did not aesthetically match the Common. Scollay Square and Adams Square had similar baroque headhouses with four-sided clock towers. Unlike the interior decor, the headhouses were sharply criticized as "resembling mausoleums" and "pretentiously monumental". Later stations on

442-595: The Richmond Union Passenger Railway . The line has been pantograph -only since the trolley wires were modified in the 1990s. The Tremont Street subway was designated a National Historic Landmark in recognition for its pioneering role in the development of the subway as a public transit system in the United States. The landmark designation encompasses the still-extant portions of the early tunnel, roughly from Court Street to Charles Street, and includes

476-544: The Tremont Street Subway to four tracks between Park Street and Scollay Square. As part of the plan, Park Street and Boylston stations were to be combined into a single Boston Common station, with a direct entrance from an underground parking garage. The garage ultimately opened in 1961, but the stations were not combined. The exit-only north headhouse on the southbound platform was removed in 1958, followed by its northbound twin around 1962. On November 19, 1961,

510-486: The Green Line level. This portion was deferred in 1999, to become Phase III of the project. Silver Line service on the surface, running on Tremont Street, began stopping at Boylston in December 2001. After substantial increases in projected cost, Phase III was cancelled in 2010. In 2019, the MBTA indicated that Boylston was a "Tier II" accessibility priority pending the results of conceptual design. A few months before

544-536: The South End, along Tremont Street ( route 43 ), or southeast to City Point in South Boston via Broadway ( route 9 ). Streetcar service through the southern portal ended in 1962; for the last several months, service consisted of a shuttle between the portal and Boylston station. The tunnel still exists, dead-ended at the now-buried portal, which has been converted to a public park. However, there have been proposals for

578-622: The disused tunnel to become part of a new streetcar line that would partly replace access to rapid transit for southern Metro Boston neighborhoods that lost rapid transit service in 1987 with the demolition of the Washington Street Elevated southern section of the Orange Line. This proposed new streetcar service could go as far south as the Red Line's Mattapan station , with a northern turnaround terminus at Government Center , according to

612-551: The fire extinguished itself. On August 4, 1958, a fire in the fuse box of a streetcar at Boylston injured 23 people. Boylston Street subway The Boylston Street subway is a light rail tunnel which lies primarily under Boylston Street in Boston, Massachusetts . In operation since 1914, it now carries all four branches of the MBTA Green Line from Kenmore Square under the Back Bay into downtown Boston, where it joins with

646-501: The first underground rapid transit station in the United States. Boylston and Park Street were built with rectangular stone headhouses designed by Edmund M. Wheelwright that did not aesthetically match the Common. Unlike the interior decor, the headhouses were sharply criticized as "resembling mausoleums" and "pretentiously monumental". Later stations on the East Boston Tunnel and Washington Street Tunnel incorporated this criticism into their more modest headhouses. As opened,

680-437: The former outer southbound track is used for work car storage. The northbound track has been fully removed; a disconnected segment of track holds two former streetcars for display. The cars (PCC #3295 and Type 5 #5734) were used for fan trips until 1990 and 1998. The Green Line takes a sharp right-angle turn just south of Boylston station, as it turns from Tremont Street onto Boylston Street. The tight radius of curvature of

714-466: The inner tracks at Boylston ran between the Public Garden incline to the west and the inner loop at Park Street, while the outer tracks ran between the Pleasant Street incline to the south and the outer through tracks at Park Street. Most streetcars from the west looped at Park Street, while those from the south continued through to North Station . From 1901 to 1908, Main Line Elevated trains ran on

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748-448: The older Tremont Street subway . The tunnel originally ended just east of Kenmore Square; it was extended under the square to new portals at Blandford Street and Saint Mary's Street in 1932. The eastern end of the tunnel is at the Tremont Street subway , just west of Boylston station near the intersection of Boylston Street and Tremont Street next to Boston Common . It then runs westward under Boylston Street; Arlington station

782-709: The original Classical Revival head houses of the Park and Boylston stations which are still in use. The original owner of the Tremont Street subway was the private West End Street Railway , later the Boston Elevated Railway . Public ownership began in 1947 with the Metropolitan Transit Authority, now the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority . Boylston station Boylston station (also signed as Boylston Street )

816-515: The original Haymarket station was replaced with a new station just to the south. The subway in 1897 consisted of a main line under Tremont Street running to Park Street, where is splits into two forks. One fork connects to the Boylston Street subway , which turns westward under Boylston Street. The other fork continues south under Tremont Street to the Pleasant Street incline . This portal was used by streetcars that went southwest to Egleston via

850-413: The outer tracks (with temporary high-level wood platforms) while streetcars continued to use the inner tracks. The Boylston Street incline (replacing the Public Garden incline) and Boylston Street subway opened on October 3, 1914, both using the inner tracks. On October 10, the fence dividing the northbound platform was opened, allowing passengers from the west to transfer to northbound streetcars from

884-433: The side of the wheel and do not affect braking. However in 2018, journalism students from adjacent Emerson College measured sound intensities over 110 dBA in the station. Boylston and Park Street were the first two stations built in the Tremont Street subway . The subway was constructed between 1895 and 1897, and first broke ground on the site of the current Boylston station. When the station opened in 1897, it became

918-483: The south. On October 9, 1915, the fence was again closed, forcing passengers from the west to transfer at Park Street (after cars from the south had dropped off many passengers) rather than at Boylston Street. The 1947 state act that created the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) from the Boston Elevated Railway established four immediate projects for the new agency, one of which was expansion of

952-511: The station opened, there was a gas explosion at the corner of Tremont and Boylston Streets on March 4, 1897. Illuminating gas had been escaping from an underground main for two months into the cavity between the station's roof and the street above, before a horse-drawn trolley caused a spark which ignited the gas. Witnesses reported that a fireball engulfed the trolley, and burned several people and horses instantaneously. Six people were killed, and at least sixty were seriously injured. The station

986-415: The track frequently causes loud squealing noises to emit from the train wheels, which are audible at street level near the station entrance at the corner. In 2017, the Green Line added 6 greasing units to the existing 13 in the system; these devices pump grease onto train wheels and the rail as trains pass them. The MBTA also retrofitted flange stick lubricators on newer trains, which scrape graphite onto

1020-413: The tunnel varies based on street considerations and other geography. At Arlington, Hynes Convention Center, and Kenmore, the tunnel is substantially below street level, and the stations have below-ground fare mezzanines offering access to both platforms; at Copley, the tunnel is shallower, and the fare gates are at platform level, with a free crossover to reverse direction not possible. The deepest section of

1054-512: Was abandoned in 1962 following the end of streetcar service through the South End . The portal has since been sealed up and covered by Elliot Norton Park, but the dead-ended tunnel to Boylston survives underground, for a possibility of future re-use (see above). The subway uses trolleys powered by electricity from overhead lines , which had been made possible by the invention of the trolley pole in 1880 by Frank J. Sprague , from his design for

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1088-521: Was extended west beyond the Square, to the existing portals on Commonwealth Avenue (the "B" branch ) and Beacon Street (the "C" branch ), although the top arch of the original portal survives as part of a ventilation shaft. The Fenway portal for the D branch was opened in 1959. The northern portal at Canal Street was replaced in 2004 when the subway was extended beneath North Station to a new portal next to Martha Road. The southern portal at Pleasant Street

1122-467: Was replaced in 1914 with two portals, one in the middle of Boylston Street adjacent to the old portal, and the other at the west end of the Boylston Street subway , just east of Kenmore Square . The Boylston Street portal was sealed in 1941 when the Huntington Avenue subway was opened (with a new portal at Northeastern University ). The portal at Kenmore Square was replaced in 1932 when the subway

1156-495: Was spared any serious damage, as much of the force of the blast had radiated upward. On June 6, 1906, there was another explosion at Boylston station. The origin of the explosion was deemed to be the short-circuiting of the overhead lines in the station, which began to burn and catch fire. Because of the electrical nature of the fire, spraying water to stop the flames failed, and fire-fighters who attempted to do so were met with electric shocks . Only three people were injured, and

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