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59-575: In 1900, streetcar service was extended south from Watertown Square to Newton Corner , which served as a transfer point between the Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) and suburban operators. In 1912, the Watertown Line was created by extending the Newton Corner line along these tracks to a new transfer facility, yard, and maintenance facility, Watertown Yard. Watertown Yard formerly served as

118-466: A counterflow lane as streetcars had. As a way to make the service more attractive, the MBTA originally had the 57 operate as a limited (boarding-only outbound and dropoff-only inbound) between Packards Corner and Kenmore, with the "B" branch providing local service along Commonwealth Avenue. In December 2006 the 57 began making local stops on Commonwealth. Since free transfers had been previously eliminated by

177-459: A dedicated median. However, the rotary proved to be busy and congested, resulting in frequent delays and automobile-streetcar collisions. In 1967, the route 69 streetcar line was renamed as the Green Line A branch . After a series of temporary bustitutions during the 1960s, the A branch was again "temporarily" substituted on June 21, 1969. However, the replacement route 57 bus became permanent and

236-542: A dispute with the Boston and Worcester Railroad over the right to cross their tracks , the line opened on November 15, 1858. Service was doubled in April 1878, with cars operating every half hour. In 1880, the company opened a second Brighton–Cambridge line via Market Street and Western Avenue. A planned extension that year from Oak Square to Nonantum Square was not built, though a line from Watertown to Nonantum Square was. In

295-472: A electrified route between Oak Square and downtown more direct than the previous route through Cambridge. At the same time, the line was extended to just short of Newton Corner. The line begun running to Park Street in the new Tremont Street Subway on November 8, 1897. On May 21, 1898, the line was extended to Nonantum Square. On December 9, 1912, the transfer point between the Harvard and Oak Square lines

354-432: A limited version of the proposal was considered wherein the route 71 trolleybus would be extended from Watertown to Newton Corner. In the 2004 Program for Mass Transportation, the $ 1.5 million project was estimated to add 600 new daily transit riders but was given low priority compared to other bus expansion projects. The combination of local routes (the 57 and the ex-M&B 52 ) and express routes has kept Newton Corner

413-573: A line on North Beacon Street between Union Square and the Watertown border. The Newtonville and Watertown Street Railway soon secured position to build between Watertown Square and Union Square, with the intention to use the West End tracks to reach downtown Boston. After approval by the Watertown Arsenal (which owned a section of North Beacon Street) in 1896 – despite the objection of the West End –

472-414: A route 57 trip. A 2018–19 MBTA review of its bus system found that route 57 suffered from overcrowding at peak hours and poor reliability. No short-term changes were recommended. 2022 MBTA proposals for its systemwide bus network redesign called for the 57 to have increased frequency to provide service every 15 minutes or better at all operating hours. The portion of the route west of Brighton Center

531-427: A short stub track at Packard's Corner , where the "A" branch used to diverge from the "B" branch. The stub, part of the former outbound track, was used for temporarily storing disabled trains until it was shorted to just a few feet long in the mid 2000s; the switch was not disconnected until 2014 and not paved over until 2020. Restoration of the "A" branch was advocated to provide a one-seat ride to downtown Boston from

590-572: A significant portion of the right-of-way, dropping the Worcester Line from 4 to 2 tracks from Back Bay to Riverside. Newton and the local stops in Boston were closed and demolished; station buildings further west in Newton were removed, but service to those stops continued. The Cambridge Railroad extended its Central Square – Oak Square horsecar line to Nonantum Square (Newton Corner) in 1863, though it

649-407: A significant transfer point. In 2006, over 60 buses traversed the rotary hourly during the morning peak. Stops are located on both the north and south side of the rotary. While this allows passengers to avoid crossing the bus rotary on foot, it caused some routes to loop the rotary just to serve both stops. The 550-series routes formerly looped one-and-one-half times around the rotary before re-entering

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708-524: A transfer point between the Newton Street Railway's expanding suburban system and service into Cambridge and Boston. The Newton Square Railway was merged into the Middlesex and Boston Street Railway (M&B) in 1909. The M&B operated through services from Newton Corner as far west as Framingham . These routes were replaced by buses in the 1920s; the final M&B streetcar route to Newton Corner

767-576: Is also served by two express routes , which operate to downtown Boston via Copley Square : Express bus service from Brighton and Watertown began even while the "A" branch was still running. The 61 Watertown/Newton Corner-Downtown Boston via Mass. Turnpike route began in July 1967, with Saturday service added in March 1968. In December 1967, the 61 was renumbered as 4, and a new route 61 running from Oak Square to downtown via Brighton Center and Union Square, Boston and

826-524: Is based at the Cabot Garage for evening, weekend, and holiday service. One early-morning round trip, intended for MBTA employees but open to the public, continues to Haymarket . It was inaugurated along with several other routes by the M.T.A. in September 1960, though they were not listed in public timetables until September 1999. The trip is internally called route 191 , but is shown on public timetables as

885-429: Is now a stop and transfer point for MBTA routes 52 , 57 , 501 , 504 , 553 , 554 , 556 ,   and   558 , which include express routes to downtown Boston as well as local routes, with stops on the north and south sides of the rotary. The Boston and Worcester Railroad opened the segment from downtown Boston to West Newton on April 7, 1834, with a station called Newton Corner opening then or soon after in

944-504: Is temporarily on Water Street but will later move to Technology Way. The city of Watertown plans to extend route 71 to Watertown Yard, and to terminate route 59 there, as part of a reconfiguration of Watertown Square. [REDACTED] Media related to Watertown Yard at Wikimedia Commons Newton Corner station Newton Corner is an MBTA bus transfer point in the Newton Corner neighborhood of Newton, Massachusetts , located on

1003-434: The 550 series in 1996, while the 300-series routes were renumbered in the 500s. When proposals to reactivate the A branch were considered in the 1970s and 1980s, a likely possibility was that the streetcars would only return as far as Oak Square, with trolleybuses filling the gap between Watertown and Oak Square. The City of Newton did not approve of overhead lines, however, and the proposals never came to fruition. However,

1062-509: The 1970s and 1980s, the line was kept open for maintenance moves to the carhouse at night. After the newly arrived Boeing LRVs began failing in the late 1970s, the MBTA was desperate for functional rolling stock. At Watertown, 15 out-of-service and wrecked PCC streetcars were rebuilt to as-new condition. (Ten of these cars still run on the Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line ). Crews at the carhouse rebuilt trolleybuses serving

1121-629: The A branch was closed in 1969 and replaced by the route 57 bus. However, Watertown Carhouse continued to see frequent use. The Bennett Street Carhouse near Harvard Square was closed in the 1970s for construction of the Harvard Kennedy School . On February 22, 1974, the MBTA began conversion of Watertown Carhouse to a trolleybus and streetcar maintenance facility to replace Bennett. From June through December 1984, route 71 trolleybuses as well as short turns of route 70 were extended to Watertown Yard during reconstruction at Watertown Square. During

1180-452: The Angier's Corner neighborhood. The station was located on the south side of the tracks west of Centre Street. A second track was added in 1839, and in 1843 the railroad began offering season fares for around $ 60, making it one of the first commuter rail systems. Newton Corner was among the most popular stations, with ridership of 26,000 in 1866. A village petition around 1870 resulted in

1239-733: The Brighton Horse Railroad, a horse car street railway , began in 1858. The line began at Central Square , Cambridge , and crossed the Charles River on the River Street bridge into Allston . It continued through Union Square along Cambridge Street and Washington Street to Oak Square in the center of Brighton . The line was operated by the Union Street Railway, a holding company for the Cambridge Railroad system. After

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1298-551: The COVID-19 pandemic. Weekday-only routes 502 and 503 were suspended, while routes 501 and 504 operated on reduced schedules. Route 504 began operating via Copley on most trips – operating on surface streets between Copley Square and downtown Boston – to replace route 502. It also resumed looping around Newton Corner on outbound trips. Route 501 was suspended from June 2020 to August 31, 2020; upon its return, it began serving Copley Square as well. The May 2022 network proposals called for

1357-536: The Green Line's scrapyard. Several wrecked cars, including sections of cars 3648 and 3639 wrecked at Copley in 1989, remained in the carhouse until they were scrapped in 2012. As of 2021, tracks remain in the yard and in the carhouse itself. Watertown Carhouse is now primarily used as a midday layover for buses, as a crew base, and for light maintenance work. Until January 2006, it was used for servicing, storage, and testing of new dual-mode buses and trolleybuses for

1416-419: The Harvard lines , converted other PCC cars into work cars, and salvaged trucks from pre-1924 Blue Line stock to build new work cars. LRVs and even the still-in-use Type 7 cars were brought in for maintenance work, using LRVs equipped with trolley poles to tow the modern pantograph-equipped cars under the older trolley wire. By the time the tracks to Watertown were removed in 1994, Watertown served primarily as

1475-602: The M.T.A. in October 1961, Watertown riders had to pay a double fare to continue downtown after the bustitution . This continued until January 1, 2007, when a new fare structure added free transfers when using a CharlieCard . Additional short turn trips between Oak Square and Kenmore at rush hour were cut in June 1971, and restored for mornings only in 1987. Morning-only Brighton Center–Kenmore trips were operated from September 1999 to June 2013. On September 1, 2008, due to overcrowding on

1534-465: The Silver Line Phase 2 BRT sets, which were tested under the wires used by route 71. Until 2024, passengers boarded buses at the northwest corner of the yard, adjacent to Nonantum Road. On March 11, 2024, the stops were relocated as part of a street reconfiguration associated with a nearby development. The final stop for terminating buses was moved to Galen Street; the first stop for departing buses

1593-652: The Turnpike was initiated. In September 1968, the 61 was changed to originate at Brighton Center, from where it ran through Oak Square and entered the Turnpike at Newton Corner. Route 62 Watertown-Copley was started at the same time. In June 1970, the routes were renumbered from 4, 61, and 62 to 304, 301, and 302 to reflect their express routings. (The 300-series numbers had been used by ex- Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway bus routes in Lawrence, briefly under MBTA control, in 1968). In March 1974, route 301 buses operating opposite

1652-531: The Turnpike. On September 1, 2019, outbound route 502 and 504 buses began turning directly onto Galen Street rather than serving the Newton Corner rotary stops; outbound route 501 and 503 buses began serving the rotary stops at that time. Most MBTA service began operating on Saturday schedules on March 17, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Weekday-only routes 502, 503, 554 , 556 , and 558 were suspended (along with route 501 in June), while Newton Corner became

1711-465: The Watertown carhouse. The electrified overhead wire was finally removed in March 1994. Additional overhead infrastructure, as well as the tracks themselves, were mainly removed by the end of the summer of 1996 as part of a resurfacing project on North Beacon Street. Remnants of the tracks are still visible today in the Watertown Yard bus terminal (no longer used for railcar maintenance), as well as

1770-613: The company constructed the line in 1898. After further disagreements between its parent company Newton and Boston Street Railway and the BERy about operations, the line opened in 1900. Through service on the line between Watertown and the Tremont Street subway, acting as a branch of the Newton-Brighton line, began on November 18, 1900. The BERy took over the line from the Newton and Boston in 1907. The portion west of Market Street

1829-754: The east terminal for route 553 except evenings. Routes 501, 554, 556, and 558 resumed on August 31, 2020, with Newton Corner the east terminal for the 550-series routes; evening route 553 service was similarly cut back that December. The MBTA's November 2022 bus network redesign plan calls for Newton Corner to no longer be a terminal though it would continue to see frequent bus service. Routes 501 and 504 would continue operating, routes 502 and 503 would not resume operation, routes 556 and 558 would become local routes (56 and 58) running to Watertown Yard via Newton Corner, and routes 553 and 554 would become local routes that no longer serve Newton Corner. Green Line A branch The A branch or Watertown Line

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1888-449: The evening peak hour. The Blandford Street portal, on Commonwealth Avenue west of Kenmore , opened October 23, 1932, marking the last change in the route of the service. In 1941, the line became the first line in Boston to have primary service with the new PCC streetcars, which replaced the Types 4 and 5 cars then in service. In June 1894, the West End applied for city permission to construct

1947-617: The existing Galen Street tracks. During the early part of the 20th century, the line was also used for freight service. The Boylston Street subway was opened to an incline in Kenmore Square on October 3, 1914, with Watertown service via Brighton Center immediately routed into the new tunnel. The first use of high-capacity center-entrance streetcars on the BERy system was as trailers on the Watertown Line in mid-1915. On February 23, 1922, Oak Square short turns were extended to Watertown in

2006-487: The existing tracks on Beacon Street. On June 13, the western terminal was also extended to just shy of Newton Corner (Nonantum Square). On November 8, 1897, Newton service via Commonwealth Avenue began running into the Tremont Street subway . A lengthy Nonantum Square– City Point route via Allston, Coolidge Corner, and Park Square opened on August 4, 1900. On December 9, 1912, service was extended north to Watertown on

2065-475: The full route was increased. Route 57 operates as a busy key bus route , with headways between 10 and 12 minutes at all times (and equal headways on the 57A during peaks). As of 2012 , the 57 and 57A combined were ninth-busiest route on the MBTA system, with 10,094 boardings on an average weekday. Route 57 is based at the Albany Street Bus Facility during weekday rush hours and midday service, and

2124-456: The inner part of the route, the MBTA began operating the 57A Oak Square–Kenmore station short turn of the 57 during weekday rush hours. Approximately every other trip operated as a 57A during rush hours; during off-peak hours and weekends all buses ran the full-length route. Oak Square short turn service was discontinued in December 2020 except for a small number of school-day trips; frequency on

2183-701: The late 1880s, the West End Street Railway consolidated the horse railroads, including the Cambridge Railroad, under its control. The West End opened its first electric streetcar line on January 3, 1889. The line ran between the Allston Carhouse (just north of Union Square) and Park Square via Harvard Street, Beacon Street, Massachusetts Avenue, and Boylston Street. Electric service was extended to Oak Square on January 13. Electric service between Watertown and Mount Auburn began on December 12, 1893;

2242-623: The late 1970s and 1980s. Midday and Saturday service on the 302 began in January 1983; in December 1989, the midday and Saturday buses added a Copley Square stop as route 304 Watertown-Downtown via Copley. In September 1996, the routes were renumbered as the 501, 502, and 504. In January 2005, the 503 Brighton Center–Copley Square route was inaugurated. Inbound route 503 afternoon trips began operating via Cambridge Street in March 2014; route 501 followed suit in March 2019. The 2018–19 system review found that routes 501 and 503 had too-close stop spacing on

2301-740: The letter "A" because it was the northernmost branch. Turnback loops existed at Union Square (via Cambridge Street and Harvard Avenue) and Oak Square, as well as the Watertown terminal. Additionally, from 1915 to January 15, 1962, a loop existed at Braves Field , for special events along the part of the line concurrent with the Commonwealth Avenue line . The opening of the Riverside Line in 1959 caused streetcar lines in Cambridge running out of Harvard Square to be converted to trackless trolley , and

2360-622: The line was double-tracked later in the decade. On August 18, 1896, the Western Avenue line was double-tracked and electrified. It was the last line that ran over the West Boston Bridge to be electrified; until then, its cars were hauled by horses to Central Square, then attached to electric cars from Allston for the remainder of the trip into Boston. On May 18, 1896, tracks opened from Union Square east along North Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue to Kenmore Square , merging with

2419-609: The newly freed PCC streetcars were reassigned to the Riverside branch. However, the 1940s-era PCC fleet was aging, and maintaining five different types of PCCs complicated mechanical work. By the late 1960s, wear and tear and a lack of replacements caused a shortage of Green Line streetcars, and the MBTA announced the closure of the A branch on a "trial" basis. The A branch was chosen for closure because much of its route consisted of street running sections from Watertown to Packards Corner, and in 1964 there had been objections to keeping

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2478-423: The northern corridor (rather than requiring a transfer at Kenmore), but was ruled too costly and less safe compared to the replacement bus service. The 57 Watertown Yard–Kenmore station bus was initiated in 1969 as replacement service for the A branch. The 57 follows the same routing from Watertown Yard to Kenmore except for the Newton Corner rotary, where inbound buses follow traffic rather than operating in

2537-521: The outer section of the route, inconsistent afternoon peak schedules, and poor reliability. No major issues were found with routes 502 and 504. The MBTA recommended that outbound route 502 and 504 buses operate directly to Galen Street, rather than looping the Newton Corner rotary to serve those stops. This was implemented on September 1, 2019; outbound route 501 and 503 buses began serving the Newton Corner stops at that time. Most MBTA service began operating on Saturday schedules on March 17, 2020, due to

2596-473: The peak direction began using the pre-1968 routing on Cambridge Street. Inbound morning buses reverted to the Newton Corner routing in June 1974, but outbound afternoon buses continued to travel via Union Square. Some afternoon buses switched back to the Cambridge Street route in September 1976 and September 1978. All three routes had a number of minor changes to their downtown and Copley Square routings in

2655-614: The rotary where Washington Street crosses the Massachusetts Turnpike. The Newton Corner station, known simply as Newton for much of its lifetime, served commuters on the Worcester Line (run by the New York Central Railroad and its predecessors) from 1834 to 1959. A streetcar stop, located on the surface streets, served a number of routes beginning in 1863, including the Green Line A branch until 1969. Newton Corner

2714-526: The service past Newton Corner. Streetcars last ran on June 20, 1969, with the route 57 bus beginning the next day. The legacy tracks remained after 1969, being used for several decades to allow Green Line streetcars to reach the Watertown Carhouse for maintenance. The last use of the line was in 1993, when the fleet of PCC streetcars used for the Ashmont–Mattapan high-speed line was refurbished at

2773-661: The station being renamed as simply Newton . Third and fourth tracks through the station were built in 1884. Around this time, a new station building was built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style . The Boston & Worcester became part of the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1867, which itself was leased by the New York Central Railroad in 1900. The Massachusetts Turnpike was extended from Route 128 in Weston to I-93 in downtown Boston. The highway occupied

2832-520: The streetcar line. The two bus routes were combined in February 1933 to eliminate the transfer; the route is now the route 64 bus . Prior to 1967, when the current letters were assigned to the Green Line 's branches, the Watertown Line was route 69. (Route 57, the line's current number, was originally assigned to Heath Street short-turn trips on the Huntington Avenue line .) The line was assigned

2891-426: The terminus of the Green Line A branch , with its heavy maintenance shops eventually handling most work for the remaining trolley routes by the 1950s. When the D branch opened in 1959, the Riverside shops were opened to supplement the Watertown and Reservoir carhouses. Due to a rolling stock shortage created largely by the opening of the D branch, as well as traffic problems at the poorly designed Newton Corner rotary,

2950-404: The trolleys never returned. The trackage was intact for non-revenue moves to Watertown Carhouse until 1994. Although no longer served by rail transport, Newton Corner remained a transfer point for bus routes. In 1967, the MBTA began operating express bus routes from Watertown Yard and Oak Square (later extended to Brighton Center) to downtown Boston. A Watertown– Copley Square express route

3009-630: Was a streetcar line in the Boston, Massachusetts , area, operating as a branch of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green Line . The line ran from Watertown through Newton Corner , Brighton , and Allston to Kenmore Square , then used the Boylston Street subway and Tremont Street subway to reach Park Street station . Portions of the route were built as horsecar lines between 1858 and 1880. The segment between Union Square and Oak Square

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3068-414: Was added in 1968; the three routes were renumbered 504, 501, and 502 in 1970. In 1972, the MBTA took over remaining M&B bus service, including six routes that terminated at Newton Corner. The Framingham–Newton Corner route was extended to Boston in 1974, but discontinued in 1981. In 1983, four routes running between Waltham points and Newton Corner were extended to Boston. These routes were renumbered into

3127-580: Was also cut to an Oak Square–Central Square route, and later to a Union Square–Central Square route. Watertown–Park Street service via North Beacon Street remained. Upon the opening of the Boylston Street subway in October 1914, North Beacon Street service was cut to a Watertown–Union Square shuttle. It was further cut to a North Beacon Street bridge (the Brighton/Watertown line) – Union Square shuttle on June 2, 1917. The North Beacon Street shuttle

3186-483: Was among the only BERy lines never to be double-tracked. The Newton Street Railway (later the Middlesex and Boston Street Railway ) began Waltham –Park Street service via the North Beacon Street line on February 23, 1903. This service was rerouted to Central Square on April 27, 1912, running on Arsenal Street and Western Avenue rather than North Beacon Street. Oak Square–Boston service via Western Avenue

3245-520: Was changed from Nonantum Square to Watertown Yard . This completed the Watertown Line from Park Street to Watertown Yard - its route for the next half-century. In the 1920s, a concrete boarding island was built in the square. The BERy was replaced by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in 1947. The Newton Street Railway opened an extension of its Waltham–West Newton streetcar line to Nonantum Square in 1890. The square soon became

3304-436: Was cut back to Oak Square in 1871. In 1881, the company extended its Harvard Square–Watertown line to Nonantum Square. That line began using electric streetcars on December 13, 1893. The Cambridge Railroad merged in 1887 into the West End Street Railway , which in turn was leased by the Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) in 1897. On June 13, 1896, the West End opened trackage on Commonwealth Avenue and Brighton Avenue, providing

3363-463: Was electrified in 1889 as part of the Beacon Street line . By 1896, electric routes ran from Newton Corner (Nonantum Square) to downtown Boston via Brighton and via Watertown. Brighton service was extended to Watertown in 1912. The line was operated until 1969, when it was replaced by MBTA bus route 57, though it remained in service for non-revenue moves to Watertown Yard until 1994. Construction of

3422-420: Was replaced with a bus route on February 23, 1922. A Watertown–Arsenal Street bridge bus route, which ran on North Beacon between Watertown and School Street, was briefly run in 1925–26. The Central Square–Union Square line was rerouted via Western Avenue and Soldiers Field Road on December 14, 1925, with a new bus route on River Street. The bus route was extended to Union Square on September 11, 1926, replacing

3481-458: Was the Framingham route, which was converted to buses in September 1929. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) took over MTA transit service in 1964. That year, the exit 17 rotary was constructed at Newton Corner. Expecting little traffic at the intersection, the streetcar tracks were placed in a contraflow lane , while the platforms were moved to the north side of the rotary in

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