Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff
The Massachusetts House last week gave initial approval to studying extending the MBTA’s Orange Line south from Jamaica Plain to Roslindale Village, which would bring core train service to parts of Boston that still lack it.
The resolve defines the scope of a feasibility study, building on $100,000 set aside in the state’s $1.3 billion midyear supplemental budget. The bill directs MassDOT to analyze costs, ridership, environmental impacts, funding options and regional equity, with a report due by June 30, 2026.
The funding was included in a spending package that allocated surplus income surtax funds to transportation and education. It marked the first commitment of state funds to analyzing the Orange Line extension concept.
The Orange Line’s northern terminus is at Oak Grove in Malden. It runs south into Somerville, into downtown Boston and then through the Back Bay and out to its current southern terminus at Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain.
The resolve (H.3733) is meant to ensure that the MassDOT study occurs and spell out what it should examine.
Roslindale Upzoned Earlier This Year
Filed by Rep. William MacGregor of Boston, the resolve directs MassDOT to analyze a wide range of factors, including projected capital and operating costs; ridership and revenue estimates; whether the extension could operate on existing rights of way; environmental and community impacts; and the availability of federal, state, local and private funding sources. The resolve also calls for an examination of “regional equity in rapid transit investments” and the potential economic, social and cultural benefits for Boston neighborhoods and the state as a whole. MassDOT would have 120 days after passage to file the report with legislative committees.
An identical resolve was filed by Sen. Michael Rush (S.2442), who also represents the area that would be affected. Rush has introduced versions of the proposal since 2021. Senate Transportation Committee members advanced his resolve 7-0 on Monday and his proposal is now before the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
“The extension would provide greater equity and access to public transportation for the neighborhoods I represent and greater access to the neighborhoods, businesses, and attractions to the city at large,” Rush said in a statement.
The neighborhood is one of the few in Boston to receive an upzoning under Mayor Michelle Wu’s Squares + Streets initiative so far. The move has already drawn development proposals.
Included in the upzoning was provision for a 145-foot building on the site of the current Roslindale Square commute rail station.
Gateway to Adding Green Line to Needham
Supporters frame the proposal as a response to a longstanding gap in Boston’s rapid transit map.
Roslindale and West Roxbury are among the parts of the city not served by subway lines, relying instead on a network of buses and the MBTA’s Needham Line commuter rail. While the commuter rail runs through dense neighborhoods within city limits, it comes far less frequently and at a much higher fare than subway service.
Transit advocates argue that converting the existing Needham Line corridor to rapid transit could dramatically improve service without the cost and disruption of building a brand new line.
They propose that the MBTA would stop running commuter rail service on the corridor and convert the existing Needham Line tracks to support Orange Line trains, which operate under different federal safety rules but use the same track gauge. Doing so would require upgrades such as Orange Line signal systems, third-rail electrification and level platforms at stations, but would avoid the need to acquire new property or build an entirely new right of way.
A 2023 report by TransitMatters describes the Needham Line as “an underutilized asset” serving communities with population densities similar to Jamaica Plain, which already has Orange Line access. The report notes that transit mode share in West Roxbury sits at just over 14 percent, compared with 38 percent in nearby Jamaica Plain, and that Roslindale residents often rely on buses that face congestion and long travel times.
Because of unique operational constraints – including the Needham Line’s use of the Northeast Corridor and an at-grade junction near Forest Hills – TransitMatters concluded that traditional commuter rail upgrades would not deliver the frequency needed. Instead, the group proposed converting the line to rapid transit along existing rights of way.
TransitMatters estimated a high-end cost of $285 million (in 2020 dollars) to extend the Orange Line to West Roxbury, plus $96 million to reach VFW Parkway.
The Needham portions of the line could be served, for additional cost, by a spur off of the Green Line’s D branch, the report said, including a stop in Newton’s growing Needham Street corridor. Needham Center has also seen growing interest from housing developers thanks to its new MBTA Communities Act zoning.
Those figures contrast with older estimates from the city. A 2017 Boston Transportation Department report exploring subway access to Roslindale projected an approximate cost of $500 million for an Orange Line extension and a timeframe of 15 or more years. That report highlighted benefits such as a “single-seat subway-like ride where bus-to-train transfers were once needed” and improved access to Roslindale Square, while acknowledging the need for land acquisition and major capital investment.
MBTA Planning to Launch 25-Year Vision
Caitlin Allen-Connelly, executive director of TransitMatters, said the timing of the feasibility study aligns with broader planning underway at the MBTA.
“This is all linking up to a broader discussion that the T is about to launch, which is their 25-year outlook, which they update every five years,” she said. “So the study is actually coming at a good time to be able to look at it system wide, whether or not it would actually provide the improvements that we need and better service.”
Allen-Connelly said TransitMatters generally supports converting commuter rail to more frequent regional rail, but said the Needham Line is a special case where Orange Line conversion could deliver a large return.
“We think that the return on investment could be large,” she said, pointing to potential value capture and opportunities tied to zoning changes and transit-oriented development in Roslindale.
MacGregor echoed those arguments during a September State House hearing.
“Fortunately, the Legislature has already approved the funding for the feasibility study, and this legislation is just the next step to ensure that it comes to fruition,” he said.
Describing hour-long waits for commuter rail service, MacGregor said the study would help lawmakers understand both the benefits and challenges of replacing existing tracks with rapid transit and “utilizing the existing infrastructure on the Needham Line to make this project more affordable.”
Supporters say an Orange Line train every four or five minutes, instead of once an hour, could reshape commuting patterns, reduce bus congestion at Forest Hills, support housing growth and cut car dependence in a part of the city that has long been on the edge of the subway map.
Whether that vision proves feasible – and at what cost – is now the question lawmakers are asking MassDOT to answer.
