Needham Line

The Boston and Providence Railroad (B&P) opened its main line from Boston through Toll Gate (Forest Hills) to Providence in 1834. A branch line from Forest Hills to Dedham via West Roxbury was opened on July 14, 1849 by the B&P.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/boston-evening-transcript/132048132/ |title=Dedham Branch Railroad |newspaper=Boston Evening Transcript |date=July 16, 1849 |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}} South Street (Roslindale), Central (Bellevue), and West Roxbury all opened with the branch; Highland was added around 1855.

File:Needham 1904.JPG

On June 1, 1853, the Charles River Branch Railroad was extended from Newton Upper Falls into Needham as the first stage of a line to Dover and beyond. The railroad was not able to follow its original plan to go through the East Village, Needham's historical center, because one landowner refused to sell; instead, it was routed to Great Plain station in Great Plain Village further to the east.{{cite book |title=A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses |last=Roy |first=John H. Jr. |publisher=Branch Line Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780942147087 |page=195}}{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofneedham00clar |title=History of Needham, Massachusetts, 1711-1911 |first=George Kuhn |last=Clarke |publisher=University Press |year=1911 |via=Internet Archive |pages=413–416, 420, 422}} Highlandville (later Needham Heights) opened around 1860.{{cite book |title=Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years |last1=Humphrey |first1=Thomas J.|last2=Clark |first2=Norton D. |publisher=Boston Street Railway Association |year=1985 |isbn=9780685412947 |pages=21–24, 29, 43–46}} The line was used to haul gravel from Needham quarries to fill in the Back Bay from 1859 to the 1880s.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oy6nK0ZdqksC&pg=PA95 |title=Boston's Back Bay: The Story of America's Greatest Nineteenth-century Landfill Project |year=2006 |last1=Newman |first1=William A. |last2=Holton |first2=Wilfred E. |publisher=Northeastern University Press |isbn=9781555536510 |pages=95–111}} The line was extended southwest to Medway in 1861 and to Woonsocket in 1863. In 1886, the Boston and Albany Railroad extended the original Charles River Branch Railroad line from Cook Junction to its own main line at Riverside, forming the complete Highland branch.

File:Needham Junction station from tracks HDR, March 2016.jpg

The Needham cutoff opened on November 4, 1906 from West Roxbury to Needham Junction, allowing trains from the former New York and New England Railroad to reach Boston without needing to use the Highland branch. Building the cutoff required a significant length of difficult rock cuts – "one of the heaviest pieces of short railroad construction ever attempted in New England" – reaching a depth of {{convert|57|feet|m}} at Great Plain Avenue.{{cite news |title=Last Rail Laid: Work on Boston's Newest Railroad is Progressing Rapidly – The Air Line From West Roxbury to Needham Has Been Cut Through Solid Rock Part of the Way. |newspaper=Boston Daily Globe |date=4 February 1906 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44792158/the-boston-globe/ |via=Newspapers.com}} Originally Needham Junction was the only stop on the cutoff; Bird's Hill opened as an infill station in 1917.

The segment from West Roxbury to Dedham was subsequently abandoned; the segment from Needham Junction to Cook Junction saw reduced passenger service. Loop service jointly run by the B&A and the New Haven operated over the cutoff and the Highland branch via Needham from 1911 to 1914; after that, most Needham trains originated at Needham Heights or Newton Highlands. Service between Newton Highlands and Newton Upper Falls ended in 1927, and between Needham Heights and Newton Upper Falls in 1932, leaving Needham Heights as the terminus of the line.

Spring Street station on the line to Dedham was closed on July 18, 1938, as part of the 88 stations case. West Roxbury–Dedham service ended effective May 6, 1940.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60114328/the-boston-globe/ |title=New Schedules of New Haven Start Monday |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=May 3, 1940 |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}

File:Highland MBTA station.JPG

The West Medway branch shared the line from Forest Hills to Needham Junction until 1938 and from 1940 to 1955; from 1955 to 1967, the line operated as a shuttle from West Medway (Millis after April 1966) to Needham Junction, with the single Budd RDC used for the shuttle being coupled to a Needham Heights train for the remainder of the journey to South Station. On April 11, 1966, a two-car inbound train from Needham derailed at Gardner Street in West Roxbury, injuring 61 aboard, due to a tampered switch.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/71692725/the-boston-globe/ |title=61 Hurt in Derailment of Needham-Hub Train |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=April 11, 1966 |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/71692794/the-boston-globe/ 5] |via=Newspapers.com}} The remaining line was purchased by the MBTA from Penn Central on January 27, 1973, along with most of the other southside lines. The stop at Forest Hills, not used since 1940 as the adjacent Washington Street Elevated provided more frequent service, was reopened in June 1973.

When the plans to replace the Elevated were drawn up in the 1960s, the new Orange Line was planned to continue past Forest Hills to Needham Heights, replacing the Needham Line. However, as the project was stalled over the next few decades, funding was found only to complete the replacement portion to Forest Hills in 1987, and so the Needham Line was kept as a locomotive-hauled commuter service. During Southwest Corridor construction from 1979 to 1987, the line was closed; upon the initial closure, service levels on the nearby Framingham Line were increased substantially to compensate for the loss of Needham service.{{NETransit}}

Since the New Haven era, the line has had Saturday service but not Sunday service. Experimental Sunday service was operated from July 11, 1992 until February 14, 1993 along with other new southside weekend service, some of which was made permanent. As part of systemwide service cuts due to budget shortfalls, Saturday service was eliminated on July 7, 2012. Saturday service on the Needham Line, as well as weekend service on the Greenbush Line and Plymouth/Kingston Line, resumed on December 27, 2014.{{cite press release |url=http://blog.mass.gov/transportation/mbta/commuter-rail-weekend-service-returning-on-3-lines/ |title=Commuter Rail: Weekend Service Returning on 3 Lines |publisher=Massachusetts Department of Transportation |date=October 7, 2014 |access-date=October 7, 2014 |archive-date=October 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013021205/http://blog.mass.gov/transportation/mbta/commuter-rail-weekend-service-returning-on-3-lines/ |url-status=dead }} The line was shut down on weekends in September through November 2017 for the installation of Positive Train Control equipment in order to meet a 2020 federal deadline.{{cite web |url=http://www.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/About_the_T/Board_Meetings/K.%20%20%20FINAL%20FMCB%20PTC%20WE%20Suspension%20Comm%20Plan%203-27-17.pdf |title=Commuter Rail Positive Train Control (PTC): Update and Communications Plan for Suspension of Weekend Service |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority |date=March 27, 2017 |page=6 |access-date=March 30, 2017 |archive-date=March 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331205623/http://www.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/About_the_T/Board_Meetings/K.%20%20%20FINAL%20FMCB%20PTC%20WE%20Suspension%20Comm%20Plan%203-27-17.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Substantially reduced schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic were in effect from March 16 to June 23, 2020. These temporary systemwide reductions were put in place again on December 14, 2020.{{cite press release |url=https://www.mbta.com/news/2020-12-10/commuter-rail-temporarily-operate-reduced-service-schedule-starting-december-14 |title=Commuter Rail to Temporarily Operate Reduced Service Schedule Starting December 14 |date=December 10, 2021 |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority}} Until 2021, the Needham Line plus some parts of the Providence/Stoughton Line were the only MBTA Commuter Rail routes without Sunday service. On January 23, 2021, reduced schedules went into place with no weekend service on seven lines, including the Needham Line.

Service changes on April 5, 2021, added midday service – thus establishing all-day hourly service – as part of a transition to a regional rail model.{{cite press release |url=https://www.keoliscs.com/news/reminder-spring-2021-commuter-rail-schedules-take-effect-april-5/ |title=Reminder: Spring 2021 Commuter Rail Schedules Take Effect April 5 |publisher=Keolis Commuter Services |date=April 1, 2021 |access-date=June 4, 2021 |archive-date=June 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603210850/https://www.keoliscs.com/news/reminder-spring-2021-commuter-rail-schedules-take-effect-april-5/ |url-status=dead }} As part of that schedule change, all Needham Line trains began stopping at Ruggles station after an additional platform there was completed.{{cite press release |url=https://www.mbta.com/projects/ruggles-station-improvements/update/ruggles-elevators-and-commuter-rail-platform-now |title=Ruggles Elevators and Commuter Rail Platform Now Complete |date=April 7, 2021 |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority}}{{cite web |url=https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/files/route_pdfs/2021-spring/2021-04-05-spring-ruggles-back-bay-south-station.pdf |title=Ruggles/Back Bay/South Station: Spring 2021 Schedule |date=April 5, 2021 |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority}} Additionally, the final Needham-bound train on weekdays began operating as a shuttle from Forest Hills station, with a transfer there from a Providence/Stoughton Line train.{{cite web|url=https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/files/route_pdfs/2021-spring/2021-04-05-spring-needham-accessible.pdf|title=Needham Line Spring 2021 Schedule |date=April 5, 2021 |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority}}

Weekend service on the Needham Line and the other six lines resumed on July 3, 2021, with both Saturday and Sunday service.{{cite web |url=https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/files/2021-05/2021-05-24-fmcb-10-commuter-rail-performance-update.pdf |title=Commuter Rail Performance Update |page=7 |date=May 24, 2021 |first=Ryan |last=Coholan |publisher=Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority}} In May 2021, the town had considered having weekend service run only between Needham Junction and South Station to avoid train horns in downtown Needham.{{cite press release |url=https://needhamma.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1317&ARC=2173 |title=Notice of Public Hearing Restoration of MBTA Commuter Rail Weekend Service |date=May 5, 2021 |publisher=Town of Needham}} {{As of|February 2022}}, the line has 16 round trips on weekdays and 8 on weekends.{{cite magazine |magazine=Rollsign |publisher=Boston Street Railway Association |date=January–February 2022 |issue=1–2 |volume=59 |title=MBTA Vehicle Inventory as of February 28, 2022 |first=Jonathan |last=Belcher |page=17}} By October 2022, the line had 4,881 daily riders – 73% of pre-COVID ridership.

An infill station at the West Roxbury Education Complex was proposed in 2023 as part of plans to move the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics & Science to the site.{{cite news |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/02/27/metro/wu-obryant-west-roxbury/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304235505/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/02/27/metro/wu-obryant-west-roxbury/ |archive-date=March 4, 2024 |title=Mayor Wu, Boston Public Schools call off plans to move the O'Bryant exam school to West Roxbury |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=February 27, 2024 |first1=Deanna |last1=Pan |first2=Christopher |last2=Huffaker}} A station at the adjacent Gardner Street Landfill site (now Millennium Park) had previously been proposed in 1970.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe/142685360/ |title=W.Roxbury recreation area sought |first=James B. |last=Ayres |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=June 14, 1970 |page=59 |via=Newspapers.com}} The school relocation plan was cancelled in February 2024, but the city indicated it would continue planning the new station.{{cite news |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/03/04/opinion/new-commuter-rail-train-station-west-roxbury/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305200327/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/03/04/opinion/new-commuter-rail-train-station-west-roxbury/ |archive-date=March 5, 2024 |title=A new train station in West Roxbury? |first=Alan |last=Wirzbicki |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=March 4, 2024}}

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• [http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/lines/?route=NEEDHAM MBTA - Needham Line]

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Category:MBTA Commuter Rail

Category:New York and New England Railroad lines

Category:Rail infrastructure in Massachusetts