MBTA Subway
Metro · Boston · Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
8 lines · 125 stations · 25 interchanges
Every line drawn through its stations. Tap a line in the legend to hide or show it.
Lines
Blue Line
Green Line B
Green Line D
Green Line E
Mattapan Line
Orange Line
Quick facts
- Operator
- The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority runs Boston's subway, trolley, bus, ferry, and commuter rail network.
- Network type
- A mixed subway and light-rail network: Red, Orange, and Blue are rapid transit, Green and Mattapan are trolley/light-rail systems.
- Boston calls the whole useful visitor layer the T, but the Green Line behaves very differently from the heavy-rail lines.
- MetroLight rail
- Payment
- Use a CharlieCard, CharlieTicket, or tap-to-ride contactless payment on subway and trolley services.
- For a short visit, contactless is the least fussy option.
- ContactlessFare card
- Airport
- Blue Line serves Airport station, with shuttle buses between the terminals and the station.
- The Silver Line bus is also important from Logan, especially to South Station, but it is outside this subway seed.
- Blue LineAirport link
- Visitor lines
- Red for Cambridge/South Station, Orange for North Station/Back Bay, Blue for the airport/waterfront, Green for Back Bay, Fenway, Brookline, BU, BC, and the museum side.
Mike’s notes
Boston is walkable enough that I would not over-plan transit for a short old-city visit. But the T is still the backbone for crossing the river, getting from Logan toward the center, reaching Back Bay, or pushing out toward Cambridge, Fenway, Brookline, or the universities.
The important mental model is that the MBTA subway is not one uniform thing. The Red, Orange, and Blue lines are the rapid-transit lines. The Green Line is a branching trolley/light-rail system with a subway trunk downtown and surface branches west of the center. The Mattapan Line is its own old trolley branch off Ashmont.
How I would use it
Use the Blue Line for Logan Airport if it lines up with your hotel. The station is not inside the terminal. Take the airport shuttle to reach the Blue Line station. If you are going to South Station, the Silver Line bus may be easier, but that is a bus decision rather than this subway page.
Use the Red Line for Cambridge, Harvard, Kendall/MIT, South Station, and the southern branches. Use Orange for North Station, Haymarket, Downtown Crossing, Back Bay, and Forest Hills. Use Green for Back Bay, Copley, Fenway, Longwood, BU, BC, Brookline, and the museum stretch.
Built-environment note
Boston's subway feels old because it is old. The 1897 Tremont Street subway was built to get streetcars out of downtown congestion, which is why the Green Line still feels like a streetcar system wearing a subway jacket in the core.
That is the charm and the limitation. Stations can feel tight, transfers can be awkward, and the Green Line branches can be slow. For the visitor version of Boston, pair the T with walking rather than trying to make it behave like Madrid or London.
Short history
1897
The Tremont Street subway opens
Boston opens the first subway tunnel in the United States, built for streetcars under the congested downtown streets.
1900s
Heavy-rail lines take shape
The Red, Orange, and Blue lines grow into the rapid-transit backbone, with downtown transfers around Park Street, Downtown Crossing, State, and Government Center.
Today
Old bones, useful city layer
The T is old, sometimes cranky, and still the right way to cross much of central Boston when walking is not enough.