A report on Trolleybuses in Greater Boston

A former trolleybus on the #71 route leaves the Harvard bus tunnel
Pullman-Standard trolleybuses at North Cambridge Carhouse in 1967
A Flyer trolleybus in the upper level of the Harvard bus tunnel in 2003
1976 Flyer E800 trolleybus at Cambridge Common, followed by the newer Neoplan AN-440LF trolleybus
The #71 route terminates at Watertown Square
Dual-mode bus in electric mode at the top of the Silver Line tunnel ramp
A Silver Line dual-mode bus changes from electric to diesel mode at Silver Line Way

The Boston-area trolleybus (or, as known locally, trackless trolley) system forms part of the public transportation network serving Greater Boston in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.

- Trolleybuses in Greater Boston
A former trolleybus on the #71 route leaves the Harvard bus tunnel

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Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

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Public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts.

Public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts.

Steam railroads in Boston in 1880. From the US Census Bureau.
Planned West End Street Railway system, 1885; consolidation of these lines was complete by 1887. See also 1880 horse railway map.
Park Street station in Boston on the Green Line soon after opening, circa 1898
Preserved PCC streetcar #3295, bearing the oval form of the "MTA" logo
Logo of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the MBTA's predecessor, extant from 1947 to 1964. An updated version of this graphic still appears on the Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line streetcar livery.
Interior of South Station in Boston, a major MBTA, Amtrak and bus transportation hub
Wickford Junction station, in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, opened in April 2012.
Park Street Station Red Line southbound platform with Daktronics electronic countdown sign. After years of delays, the first countdown signs on the Red Line were activated in 2012.
A typical New Flyer XDE40 Hybrid bus
Route trolleybus AN440LF (replaced by conventional bus in March 2022)
Outbound MBTA Silver Line bus at Courthouse station, bound for Logan Airport
An unofficial schematic map of the rapid transit system (plus non-BRT key bus routes) from 2013. The official MBTA map is an altered version of this map, which won a redesign contest in 2014.
To-scale map of the Boston subway system from 2003
Red Line at Downtown Crossing.
The types of track used on various parts of the MBTA subway system.
Commuter rail lines service the eastern third of the state
MBTA locomotives in South Station, the inbound terminus of the eight southside Commuter Rail lines
Commuter boat from Quincy approaching the dock at Long Wharf (service from Quincy was discontinued in 2013)
Ticket machines and faregates at the World Trade Center station on the Silver Line.
Faregates at Haymarket station
Commuter rail tickets and on-board fare receipts
Map of the Green Line Extension (GLX).
Mockup of a new Red Line car on display in August 2018

Four routes connecting to Harvard Station (Red Line) ran as trackless trolleys until March 13, 2022, when they were permanently withdrawn from service.

Harvard station

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Rapid transit and bus transfer station in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Rapid transit and bus transfer station in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Red Line platforms viewed from the secondary fare mezzanine: the outbound platform is to the left, with the inbound platform visible below to the right.
A route 78 bus on the upper level of the bus tunnel
A train at the original Harvard station in 1912
Simplified map of the current and former stations
The fare mezzanine of the modern station
Route 77 bus leaving the lower level
A Cambridge Visitor's Information Center was installed next to the main entrance to the station
1985 dedication plaque for the new station, which had opened in 1983
View looking northward from station atrium lobby, with outbound platform above inbound platform
Passengers waiting in Harvard bus tunnel, upper level. Central atrium is visible though windows at rear.
Western portal of the Harvard bus tunnel connects to Mount Auburn Street (behind camera viewpoint)
Original station headhouse of 1912
Roof of station headhouse in 1967; this structure is now a newsstand near its original location.
Station headhouse as seen in 1976; by this point the "T" signage was in use.

Trackless trolleys (trolleybuses) began to use the tunnel with the conversion of the Huron Avenue streetcar line (now route ) on April 2, 1938.

Silver Line (MBTA)

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System of bus routes in Boston and Chelsea, Massachusetts, operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority .

System of bus routes in Boston and Chelsea, Massachusetts, operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority .

The power changeover at Silver Line Way
An SL1 bus at Logan Airport Terminal E
An SL2 bus on Black Falcon Avenue
An SL3 bus at Airport station
An SL5 bus near Herald Street
Melnea Cass Boulevard, a typical Washington Street stop
Removal of the Elevated in 1987
The MBTA used this logo to advertise the Silver Line
A 40-foot Silver Line trolleybus at Courthouse station in 2005. These buses were briefly used until the dual-mode buses entered service.
Silver Line service plans as of 2005, showing the SL3 (discontinued in 2009) and the original SL4 and Phase III (never implemented)
Silver Line Phase III alternatives, showing the original 4 alignments plus the Charles Street Modified (CSM) alignment. The preferred route at the time of the project's cancellation was the CSM alignment (pink) feeding into the core tunnel (green).
Shelter at South Station for route SL4
Chelsea station in July 2018
Southern branch of the Tremont Street subway near the former Pleasant Street portal. This tunnel was briefly considered for use in the Phase III tunnel and is the likely connecting route for a proposed conversion of the Washington Street section of the Silver Line to a branch of the Green Line.
The SLW was one of three MBTA bus routes to show a net profit in a 2012 study.
Red-painted bus lanes on an uncongested section of Washington Street
An SL1 bus waiting at the D Street light
The disputed ramp in 2017

With the closure of the older Harvard-based trolleybus system in March 2022, the Silver Line is the only trolleybus service operated by the MBTA.

Busscar trolleybus in São Paulo, Brazil

Trolleybus

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Electric bus that draws power from dual overhead wires (generally suspended from roadside posts) using spring-loaded trolley poles.

Electric bus that draws power from dual overhead wires (generally suspended from roadside posts) using spring-loaded trolley poles.

Busscar trolleybus in São Paulo, Brazil
Solaris trolleybus in Landskrona, Sweden
The "Elektromote", the world's first trolleybus, in Berlin, Germany, 1882.
A double-deck trolleybus in Reading, England, 1966.
MU ZiU-9 in Soviet Union, 1987
A trolleybus in Qingdao, China.
A San Francisco Muni trolleybus (ETI 14TrSF) climbing Nob Hill.
Trolleybus on tunnel line in Tateyama.
Underground trolleybus in Kurobe Dam.
A Rocar DAC 217E articulated trolleybus in Bucharest, Romania, in April 2007.
Pole bases with springs and pneumatic pole lowering cylinders.
Insulated poles, contact shoes, and pull–ropes.
On this articulated Beijing trolleybus, the operator uses ropes to guide the trolley poles to contact the overhead wires.
A dual-mode bus operating as a trolleybus in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, in 1990.
Trolleybus wire switch (Type Soviet Union).
A switch in parallel overhead lines
A ZiU-9 trolleybus in service in Piraeus, Greece, on the large Athens-area trolleybus system. The Russian-built ZiU-9 (also known as the ZiU-682), introduced in 1972, is the most numerous trolleybus model in history, with more than 45,000 built. In the 2000s it was effectively rendered obsolete by low-floor designs.
One of the NAW/Hess articulated trolleybuses delivered to Geneva in 1992, which were among the first production-series low-floor trolleybuses.
The Vancouver trolleybus system completed the transition to an exclusively low-floor fleet in 2009.
A trolleybus in Bradford in 1970. The Bradford Trolleybus system was the last one to operate in the United Kingdom; closing in 1972.
Monument to Crimean Trolleybus.
Irisbus Cristalis in Limoges.
Van Hool Exquicity 18T in Parma.
AKSM-420 Vitovt in Minsk.
New Flyer XT60 in Seattle.
Youngman JNP6183BEV in Beijing.
Solaris Trollino 18 in Salzburg.
Trolleybus in Castellón de la Plana.
Trolleybus in Malatya.

Trackless trolleys were the dominant form of new post-World War I electric traction, with extensive systems in among others, Los Angeles, Chicago, Rhode Island, and Atlanta; Boston, San Francisco, and Philadelphia still maintain an "all-four" fleet.

Lechmere station

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Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green Line light rail station in Lechmere Square in East Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green Line light rail station in Lechmere Square in East Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The north headhouse in March 2022
East Cambridge station in 1905
Shelter for outbound Bridge Street streetcars at Lechmere Square in 1915
The station under construction in March 1922
Lechmere station shortly before completion
The outbound transfer canopy in 1927
Track layout of the station in 1936
A trackless trolley loops under a subway train at Lechmere in 1960
Green Line trains at Lechmere in 2018
1978 plans for an elevated station
Station construction in December 2021
Demolition of 21 Water Street in August 2014|alt=A cinderblock building being demolished by an excavator
Steel work in February 2020|alt=A large steel beam being lifted onto a viaduct
Station construction in May 2020|alt=Aerial view of an elevated light rail station under construction
Shuttle buses at Lechmere in August 2021|alt=Two white buses in a busway at a disused light rail station
Station construction in September 2021|alt=An aerial view of an elevated railway station under construction in an urban area

The surface streetcars were replaced by trolleybuses and later diesel buses in the 1930s to 1960s, while the subway routes became the Green Line in 1965.

By 1925, streetcars were gone from most downtown streets.

Boston Elevated Railway

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Streetcar and rapid transit railroad operated on, above, and below, the streets of Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding communities.

Streetcar and rapid transit railroad operated on, above, and below, the streets of Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding communities.

By 1925, streetcars were gone from most downtown streets.
Map of the planned West End Street Railway network from 1885. These existing routes were officially merged in 1887.
BERy articulated streetcar no. 2 in 1913. The Boston Elevated Railway was the world's first street railway system to use articulated streetcars.
Former MTA PCC car #3295 on display at Boylston
Retired BERy-era heavy rail subway cars (those closest to camera) at the MBTA Red Line's former Eliot Yard, 1967
The Central Power Station of the West End Street Railway in the South End, built 1889-91
Share of the Boston Elevated Railway Company, issued March 2, 1918

The first route of the Boston trackless trolley system was opened by BERy, on April 11, 1936.

Cambridge, Massachusetts

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City in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and part of the Boston metropolitan area as a major suburb of Boston.

City in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and part of the Boston metropolitan area as a major suburb of Boston.

Map showing the original boundaries of Cambridge and other Massachusetts cities and towns
George Washington in Cambridge, 1775
Map of Cambridge from 1873
1852 Map of Boston area showing Cambridge and regional rail lines and highlighting the course of the Middlesex Canal. Cambridge is toward the bottom of the map and outlined in yellow, and should not be confused with the pink-outlined and partially cropped "West Cambridge", now Arlington.
A view from Boston of Harvard's Weld Boathouse and Cambridge in winter. The Charles River is in the foreground.
Buildings of Kendall Square, center of Cambridge's biotech economy, seen from the Charles River
Fogg Museum, Harvard
Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site
Stata Center, MIT
Simmons Hall, MIT
Alewife Brook Reservation
Cambridge City Hall in the 1980s
Aerial view of part of MIT's main campus
Dunster House, Harvard
The 1888 part of the Cambridge Public Library
Massachusetts Avenue in Harvard Square
Central Station on the MBTA Red Line
The Weeks Bridge provides a pedestrian-only connection between Boston's Allston-Brighton neighborhood and Cambridge over the Charles River.
Engine 2, Paramedic Squad 2, Ladder 3 firehouse
Central Square
Harvard Square
Inman Square

This tunnel was originally opened for streetcars in 1912 and served trackless trolleys (trolleybuses) and buses as the routes were converted; four lines of the MBTA trolleybus system continue to use it.

Watertown, Massachusetts

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City in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston.

City in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston.

Saltonstall's landing spot in Watertown, also known as Elbridge Gerry Landing
Edmund Fowle House, built in the 1700s and used by the Massachusetts government during the Revolutionary War
Browne House, built c. 1694
St. Stephen Armenian Apostolic Church
Hairenik Association building – Watertown, Mass.
Benjamin Robbins Curtis
Eliza Dushku

Watertown is served by several MBTA bus and trackless trolley routes.

Exit fare machines at the Largo Town Center station of the Washington Metro

Exit fare

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Method of collecting ridership fees, or fares, from a transportation system, where the fee is collected from passengers upon reaching their destination.

Method of collecting ridership fees, or fares, from a transportation system, where the fee is collected from passengers upon reaching their destination.

Exit fare machines at the Largo Town Center station of the Washington Metro

However, the MBTA's trackless trolley routes that used left-side boarding in the lower bus tunnel at Harvard station had exit fares because fares could not be collected during boarding.

Conductor's Building

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Former Boston Elevated Railway administrative building, located on Bennett Alley between Mount Auburn Street and Bennett Street near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Former Boston Elevated Railway administrative building, located on Bennett Alley between Mount Auburn Street and Bennett Street near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Division 7 Headquarters shortly after completion
An MBTA bus next to the disused building in 2006
The building undergoing renovations in July 2015

With the streetcar lines converted to trackless trolleys and buses by the 1950s, Bennett Street Carhouse became a trackless trolley facility.