Boston – Revere railway line

Boston MA – Revere MA
Route length:	10.03 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Dual track :	entire route
Society:	MBTA
Right of joint use:	Entire route: PAR Reading Junction – Everett: CSXT
Legend 0.00 Boston MA North Station Charles River ( Lift bridge ) after Lowell ? Goods base Charlestown Connection to Fitchburg Boston – Fitchburg line Connection to Lowell by Allston Boston Subway ( Orange Line ) Connection Massport Connection between Mystic Junction and Massport Connection from Mystic Junction 2.38 East Somerville MA Interstate 93 Boston Elevated Railway to Wilmington Junction (Reading Junction) Mystic River to East Boston 5.15 Everett MA (formerly South Malden) after Saugus Boston Elevated Railway 6.04 East Everett MA 7.39 Chelsea MA Bay State Street Railway Connection from East Boston 9.27 Forbes Street 10.03 Revere MA (formerly wedge station ) from East Boston to Portsmouth

The railway Boston Revere is a railway line in Massachusetts ( United States ). The route is about ten kilometers long and connects the cities of Boston , Somerville , Everett , Chelsea and Revere . The route is owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority , which operates passenger services. Freight traffic is operated by Pan Am Railways and on the section from Reading Junction to Everett also CSX Transportation .

history

The Eastern Railroad had opened its main line from East Boston to Portsmouth in 1840 . Passengers had to change to a ferry in East Boston to get to Boston. Eastern's biggest competitor, the Boston and Maine Railroad , had a similar problem: it had to use the Boston and Lowell Railroad from Boston to Wilmington , which often resulted in delays. Boston & Maine solved this problem in 1845 by building its own route to downtown Boston. Now the Eastern also wanted to build such a line. In the meantime, the Grand Junction Railroad was planned, a connecting line between the railway lines in the north of the city, which opened in 1852. The Eastern saw this route as an opportunity to penetrate the city center at low cost. They therefore built a link to the Grand Junction Railroad from Revere to Chelsea, which was also opened as the Chelsea Branch in 1852 .

However, it also built its own terminus on Causeway Street in Boston and was able to use the Grand Junction Railroad, especially its bridge over the Mystic River , between Chelsea and Somerville . In April 1854 the line went into operation and the Eastern passenger trains now went to Boston. Since there was no passenger traffic on the Grand Junction Railroad, the Eastern also opened up the cities of Everett and Chelsea for suburban traffic. The route was very busy, so that after a few years between Chelsea and Somerville, a separate, double-track route was built right next to the Grand Junction Railroad. Only the bridge over the Mystic River was still used, but it was also expanded to two tracks. Originally there were four terminal stations on Causeway Street, three of which were now operated by Boston & Maine. In 1894, the Boston North Station, built at the same location, replaced these three terminal stations.

The operator of the route changed frequently, in 1884 Boston & Maine took over its competitor and continued to operate the route. Passenger transport, which was subsidized by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) as early as 1965 , was completely transferred to this company in 1976, which bought the route. The freight traffic continued to operate the Boston & Maine, or from 1983 its successor, the Guilford Transportation, which traded under the name Pan Am Railways since 2006 . Since the formerly shared section of the Grand Junction Railroad that was part of the route was also transferred to the MBTA, CSX Transportation , which owns the remaining sections of the Grand Junction Railroad, now has the right to use this section, which it uses to connect some industrial and port facilities in Everett uses.

Route description

The route begins at Boston North Station. Until 1894 it had its own terminus at the same location, which, viewed from the east, was the second of the four terminal stations that were right next to each other. The four-track bridge over the Charles River begins in the station area. Immediately thereafter, the track field expands again and the Charlestown freight yard joins. Over the next two kilometers, the railway lines branch off, which also end in the North Station. From here to Chelsea, the Grand Junction Railroad runs right next to the line to Revere. The joint bridge of these two routes over the Mystic River is the largest engineering structure on the route. Immediately after this bridge, the Everett station area begins. Here the route turns east and runs through East Everett and Chelsea to Revere, where there was a wedge station . The line joins the Eastern main line here, whose southern section from Revere to East Boston has been closed, so that Revere is no longer a hub station. Of the former seven stations on the line, only the terminus in Boston and the Chelsea station, which has been reduced to a simple stop, are served. The city of Everett with over 40,000 inhabitants, like Revere with over 50,000 inhabitants, no longer has a place of residence.

Accidents

The most momentous rail accident in Massachusetts occurred on Saturday, August 26th, 1871 at Revere train station, when a well-filled express train crashed into a full commuter train at about 10 miles per hour, which was standing on the platform. 29 people lost their lives in the process. As a result of this accident, the Eastern, which until then had even refused to check in by telegraphic train dispatch, had to modernize its line safety systems, which ultimately led to the takeover by Boston & Maine 13 years later due to the financial problems.

On December 27, 1966, at a railroad crossing in Everett, a passenger train consisting of a Budd Rail Diesel Car collided with a tanker truck that had been left lying on the tracks. The leaking fuel ignited and 13 people died.

Sources and further information

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010.

literature

• Ronald D. Karr: The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 1995. ISBN 0-942147-02-2 .

Web links

• Station directory with route miles (English)