page_title: Green Line C branch
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Green Line C branch / History
caption_attribution_description: MBTA (Boston) 3463, a 1977 U.S. Standard Light Rail Vehicle (Boeing-Vertol LRV), westbound on the Green Line's "C" Branch, in the median of Beacon Street, crossing Washington Street, in Brookline.
context_page_description: The C branch, also called the Beacon Street Line or Cleveland Circle Line, is one of four branches of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Green Line light rail system in the Boston, Massachusetts metropolitan area. The line begins at Cleveland Circle in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston and runs on the surface through Brookline along the median of Beacon Street. Reentering Boston, the line goes underground through the St. Marys Street incline and joins the B and D branches at Kenmore. Trains run through the Boylston Street subway to Copley where the E branch joins, then continue through the Tremont Street subway to downtown Boston. As of 2020, the C branch terminates at North Station.
context_section_description: The first tracks on Beacon Street were laid in 1888, running from Massachusetts Avenue west to Coolidge Corner. The next year the rest of the line to Cleveland Circle opened, with access to the Reservoir carhouse. In 1889, the first electric streetcar route (see Green Line A branch) used Beacon Street from Coolidge Corner east to Massachusetts Avenue, then ran south on Massachusetts Avenue and east on Boylston Street to Park Square. That same year, the line on Beacon Street to Cleveland Circle was electrified. Another connection to the Beacon Street line was provided at Washington Square; streetcars came from Brookline Village along Washington Street and turned west on Beacon Street. This line was later extended north on Chestnut Hill Avenue and west on Commonwealth Avenue to Boston College and was the predecessor of the 65 bus route.
  The Tremont Street subway opened on September 1, 1897; Beacon Street service was routed into the Public Garden incline at the Public Garden, turning around at Park Street. The Boylston Street subway opened on October 3, 1914 as a westward extension of the Tremont Street subway. The Beacon Street line entered just east of Kenmore Square.
  On November 21, 1914, rush hour Washington Street service was cut back to Reservoir, leaving only Beacon Street cars using the Chestnut Hill Avenue tracks. Beacon Street service was cut to Reservoir on November 6, 1915, with Washington Street service extended back to Lake Street. Beginning on February 6, 1922, all Washington Street service was operated as a Brookline Village–Lake Street shuttle as part of service changes on the Huntington Avenue line. The shuttle was replaced with buses in 1926; the bus route was redirected to Brighton Center in 1928 and eventually became route 65.
  On December 14, 1929, most trips of the Kenmore–Lechmere shuttle were extended along Beacon Street to Washington Square. This resulted in ​2 ¹⁄₂-minute rush-hour headways on the inner part of the line, with three-car Washington Square–Lechmere trains and two-car Cleveland Circle–Park Street trains on alternating 5-minute headways. On January 9, 1930, the BERy began running Washington Square-bound streetcars express from Kenmore to Kent Street in the afternoon peak due to crowding. The Washington Street service was cut back to Kenmore in June 1930 but resumed that September.
  On February 7, 1931, Commonwealth Avenue and Beacon Street service was extended from Park Street to Lechmere using three-car trains; the Washington Street short turns were cut back to Kenmore–Park Street shuttles. On October 23, 1932, a westward extension of the subway was opened with an underground Kenmore station. It split into separate tunnels for the Commonwealth Avenue and Beacon Street lines; the latter surfaced at St. Marys Street. The first use of two-car trains of PCC streetcars on the system was on the Beacon Street line on April 16, 1945. At that time, service on the line operated every 2.8 minutes at morning peak, 6 minutes midday, and 2.7 minutes in the afternoon peak. The first use of a three-car train of PCC cars was on July 13, 1946 for a baseball extra; they entered regular service on September 16, 1946. From 1940 until its 1967 naming as the C branch, the Beacon Street line had route number 61.
  The Riverside Line (later the D branch) was connected to the Beacon Street tunnel near Mountfort Street, with service beginning on July 4, 1959. On November 20, 1961, after 30 years running to Lechmere, the line was cut back to North Station (except Sundays). It was extended back to Lechmere on March 25, 1967; Saturday service was briefly cut to Government Center from June–September 1968. From June 8 to September 11, 1974, D branch trains ran over the C branch due to track work. Trains used a temporary loop at Reservoir and non-revenue tracks on Chestnut Hill Avenue to cross between the two lines. From March 20 to June 25, 1976, C branch night service looped at Kenmore to allow electrical work in the central subway.
  Boeing LRVs were first used on the line on January 20, 1978. By March 24, three-car trai
caption: Now-discontinued Boeing US Standard Light Rail Vehicle crossing Washington Street in 1987
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