Needham Line

NEEDHAM LINE
A Needham Line train at Forest Hills station in 2007
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	MBTA Commuter Rail
Locale	Greater Boston
Termini	Needham Heights South Station
Stations	12
Daily ridership	6,972 (2013 weekday average boardings)
Operation
Owner	MBTA
Operator(s)	Keolis North America
Technical
Line length	9.3 miles (15.0 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map South Station Fairmount, Greenbush, and Old Colony Lines Back Bay Framingham/Worcester Line Ruggles Forest Hills Providence/Stoughton Line and Franklin Line Roslindale Village Bellevue Highland West Roxbury Former route to Dedham Hersey Needham Junction Millis Branch (closed 1967) Needham Center Needham Yard Needham Heights Former route to Newton Highlands This diagram:

The Needham Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running west from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, and the town of Needham. The second-shortest line of the system at just 13.7 miles long, it carries 8,218 daily riders. Unlike the MBTA's eleven other commuter rail lines, the Needham Line is not a former intercity mainline; instead, it is composed of a former branch line, a short segment of one intercity line (running in the reverse of its original direction), and a 1906-built connector.

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 June 3, 1850 by the B&P. South Street (Roslindale), Central (Bellevue), and West Roxbury all opened with the branch; Highland was added around 1855.

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. Highlandville (later Needham Heights) opened around 1860. The line was used to haul gravel from Needham quarries to fill in the Back Bay from 1859 to the 1880s. 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.