60 (MBTA bus)
| Company type | Streetcar route |
|---|---|
| Industry | Public transportation |
| Founded | July 1900 |
| Defunct | July 14, 1934 |
| Headquarters | Boston, Massachusetts , United States |
Area served | Boston, Massachusetts; Brookline, Massachusetts |
| Products | Streetcar transit service |
The Ipswich Street line was a streetcar route serving Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. It operated along Boylston Street and Ipswich Street within the Fenway–Kenmore district, continuing on Brookline Avenue through what is now the Longwood Medical Area to reach Brookline Village.
Conceived in the mid-1890s to facilitate growth in Fenway–Kenmore, the line commenced service in July 1900. Initially, streetcars ran between Park Street station and the Cypress Street Carhouse; later that year, the route extended westward to Chestnut Hill. The eastern endpoint was shortened to Massachusetts station in 1925. A year later, in 1926, the Ipswich Street line and the Huntington Avenue line exchanged their western terminals, returning Ipswich Street service to Cypress Street. Service west of Brookline Village was gradually curtailed—first to Brookline Village in 1932, then reduced to a brief shuttle between Audubon Road and Massachusetts by mid-1933. This shuttle ceased operations entirely in July 1934.
As streetcar ridership declined, bus routes supplanted the service. Present-day MBTA bus routes 55 and 60 directly trace their origins to the Ipswich Street line; route 65, derived from a Huntington Avenue branch, also traverses sections of the former streetcar path.
Streetcar line
During the 1890s, the West End Street Railway transitioned its horse-drawn streetcars to electric power, which allowed expansion into suburban areas including Brookline and Brighton. New routes debuted on Beacon Street (1888–89) and Commonwealth Avenue (1894–96). The Back Bay Fens area north of the Muddy River was filled for development purposes. In 1895, local Brookline entrepreneurs proposed a streetcar line running from Newton Centre to downtown Boston that would operate independently of West End tracks. This proposed route would head southeast from Newton Centre through Brookline along Boylston Street (historically Worcester Turnpike), then turn northeast via Brookline Avenue and Boylston Street through the newly developed Fens area before connecting with the Tremont Street subway through Newbury and Arlington Streets. By avoiding West End-owned trackage, this plan enabled use of city-owned subway facilities without complications related to trackage rights. In response, West End suggested an extension from Reservoir along Chestnut Hill Avenue and Boylston Street.
In 1897, West End put forward plans to extend its Boylston Street line westward from Massachusetts Avenue into developing neighborhoods. Concerns emerged over potential damage to parkland within the Fens and the poor condition of a Muddy River bridge. A compromise rerouted the line north along Ipswich Street parallel to the Boston and Albany Railroad mainline, thereby circumventing parkland disruption and bridge repairs. The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy), West End’s successor, initiated construction in early 1899. By mid-1899, track laying was nearly finished except for sections impacted by water main replacements.
Service had reached Longwood Avenue by July 23, 1900. Shortly thereafter, full operation began: streetcars traveled from the Cypress Street carhouse using existing tracks on Cypress and Boylston Streets before continuing northeast on newly built tracks along Brookline Avenue and eastward on Boylston and Ipswich Streets to rejoin existing Boylston Street tracks entering the subway. That same week saw the inauguration of a Huntington Avenue branch running from Brookline Village with through service extending to Allston; both lines briefly shared track at Brookline Village. Subsequent extensions pushed service westward from Cypress Street to Chestnut Hill Avenue in September 1900 and further out to Chestnut Hill by November. On May 5, 1903, the Boston and Worcester Street Railway (B&W) commenced operations terminating at Chestnut Hill; by July it extended over BERy tracks into Park Square.
By 1907, routine Ipswich Street service operated between Chestnut Hill and , with short-turn trips between Longwood Avenue and Park Street; runs between Cypress Street Carhouse and Park Street were primarily for moving cars into storage. In 1912, BERy opened a transfer station at Brookline Village to streamline connections between Ipswich and Huntington Avenue lines. On November 28, 1919, service was redirected into a new surface transfer facility at Massachusetts station that provided fare-controlled transfers to both the Massachusetts Avenue streetcar line and Boylston Street subway.
On June 13, 1925, Ipswich Street service was truncated from Park Street back to Massachusetts station—marking the final streetcar operation on Boylston between Copley Square and Massachusetts; bus service replaced it along Bowdoin Square to Fenway. In March 1926, western terminals of Ipswich and Huntington lines were swapped again; this change restored Ipswich cars’ one-seat rides from Chestnut Hill directly downtown via Cypress Street.
With construction advancing along Worcester Turnpike eastward, B&W replaced streetcars with buses on June 11, 1932. That November saw Ipswich service cut back to Brookline Village while Huntington Avenue assumed control of the Cypress branch until its cessation in 1934; buses served Chestnut Hill thereafter. In March 1933 Ipswich service was further reduced to a shuttle operating between Audubon Road and Massachusetts using two Type 5 streetcars; bus routes took over service along Brookline Avenue. The shuttle terminated on July 14, 1934 when buses fully replaced remaining streetcar operations on the Ipswich Street line.
Bus routes
During 1940–41, the BERy reorganized its public bus route numbering system, which has remained mostly stable since then. The BERy was succeeded by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in 1947, and later by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in 1964. Among MBTA’s bus routes, three can trace their origins to the Ipswich Street line:
55
The initial bus service that replaced the Audubon Road shuttle followed a comparable path but navigated through residential areas instead of turning back at Audubon Road. This service was designated as route 55 in 1941. Between September 1962 and June 1963, inbound buses operated via Brookline Avenue and Kenmore Square. The closure of the Massachusetts surface station in January 1963 for the Massachusetts Turnpike Extension construction led to rerouting along Burbank and Hemenway Streets. Around 1967, the loop was altered to run via Gloucester Street and Newbury Street; in December 1968, it extended to Fairfield Street to enhance access to the Prudential Center, and later reached Copley Square in December 1976. In 1982, weekday trips were lengthened to Park Street, including a loop around Boston Common. Outbound buses were rerouted over Huntington Avenue starting June 1998.
An MBTA evaluation during 2018–19 identified low ridership on route 55 outside peak times, attributed to infrequent service, reliability issues, and overlap with the Green Line. No immediate modifications were suggested. Service east of Copley was halted on March 17, 2020; midday and evening weekday trips were suspended later that year. All operations ceased in March 2021 but midday service resumed in June 2021. The western terminus was renamed simply "Fenway" in June 2023, with the MBTA continuing to operate it under the name 55 Fenway–Copley station.
In May 2022, the MBTA proposed extending route 55 to Kendall/MIT station via Massachusetts Avenue and Longwood Medical Area via Brookline Avenue, eliminating the segment east of Massachusetts Avenue and discontinuing the Fenway–Kenmore loop. However, a revised proposal released in November 2022 maintained route 55 as a Fenway–Kenmore to Copley service.
60
Following the termination of streetcar service on Chestnut Hill in November 1932, buses took over the connection between Chestnut Hill and Brookline Village. By mid-1933, a Brookline Village– route operating along Brookline Avenue was introduced and through-routed with the Chestnut Hill line around 1934. When Cypress Street service via Huntington Avenue ended in June 1934, a new Cypress Street–Kenmore bus route was established. In 1935, a loop was created encompassing High Street, Highland Road, Jamaica Road, Pond Avenue, and Chestnut Street. In 1941, the Cypress Street route received number 58 while Chestnut Hill became route number 60. The Cypress Street loop was discontinued in 1942 but reinstated after World War II.
The opening of the Riverside Line in July 1959 led to adjustments in bus routes for better connections. Some trips on route 60 terminated at Brookline Hills station, while all Cypress Street trips were shortened to Brookline Hills and designated as route 60A. A new route 58 operated between Brookline Village and Kenmore. Due to local opposition against buses looping on narrow streets, routes were modified by September 1960 to terminate at Brookline Village instead. With free transfers discontinued by MTA in October 1961, many routes were extended or combined into through-routes to avoid double fares; consequently, both Chestnut Hill and Cypress Street routes were extended back to Kenmore Square, with Cypress Street renumbered again as route 58.
In September 1969, these two routes merged into route 60; buses traveled via Chestnut and High Streets except during rush hours when route 60A followed the former route 58 path. Route 60A was eliminated in December 1985, ending service on the Cypress Street loop; thereafter, route 60 served Cypress and High Streets at all times. The outer terminal was slightly extended to Chestnut Hill Mall in December 2006. The MBTA still operates this line as 60 Chestnut Hill–Kenmore station. A review conducted in 2018–19 found the route fundamentally sound but noted issues with reliability and irregular headways. To improve frequency, a minor truncation to a stop at the new Chestnut Hill Square development was recommended; nevertheless, the MBTA chose to maintain service to the mall while planning for the additional stop.
The May 2022 draft network plan suggested extending route 60 to Newton Centre via Langely Road with increased frequency; however, the November 2022 draft plan opted to preserve the existing routing unchanged.
65
The streetcar line along Washington Street connecting Brookline Village initially operated as an offshoot of the Huntington Avenue route, extending to via Beacon Street. In 1922, the service was truncated to run between Lake Street and Brookline Village, and by 1926 it had transitioned to bus operation. By mid-1928, the western terminus was rerouted along Washington Street to Brighton Center, following a streetcar alignment originally proposed in the 1890s. The original tracks were dismantled in 1940. The route received the number 65 designation in 1941. Saturday service was discontinued in March 1953 but reinstated in September 1979. In October 1961, following the elimination of free transfers, the route was extended to Kenmore, sharing Brookline Avenue with routes 58 and 60.
Today, the MBTA runs the 65 Brighton Center–Kenmore station bus route. A review conducted during 2018–19 highlighted issues such as inconsistent service reliability, overcrowding during peak periods, and the absence of Sunday operations. Unlike many crosstown services, this route experiences predominantly one-directional demand during rush hours. One proposed modification involved relocating the inner terminal to , redirecting buses via Longwood Avenue, Huntington Avenue, and Ruggles Street—thereby paralleling the route. This adjustment would introduce a connection to the Orange Line and enhance access to the Longwood Medical Area. Nevertheless, implementation has been postponed pending a comprehensive system evaluation.
The draft network plan released in May 2022 recommended extending route 65 as part of route , establishing a frequent service corridor between Oak Square and . The portion along Brookline Avenue north of the Fenway would be eliminated but covered by alternative routes. The November 2022 draft amended this approach, proposing that route 65 operate between Brighton Center and Ruggles, while route 15 would terminate at Ruggles.
External links
- MBTA: routes , , and