It may be shocking to hear, but there are those who say that Boston has a second-rate transit system. Our roadways are confusing, our drivers are insane, the subway doesn't run all night, and New York is just better in general. Well, if you find yourself a confused traveler, either local or imported, The Logos is proud to present the first in an occasional series of articles focusing on common transit questions in the first-rate Boston area.

As this is our first stab at this, we'll provide the questions. Next time, we want yours.

So, you know the Green Line? Why is there a B Line, a C Line, a D Line and an E Line, yet no A Line?

Good question! You'd be surprised how many people don't actually think about this inconsistency. Chances are, they're from New York City and are used to random numbers and letters on their subway lines, and therefore couldn't care less about anything, like most New Yorkers.

But getting to the point, there actually used to be an A Line back in the day. The next time you ride the B Line outbound, just after you pass Star Market, just when the train starts to take that hard left turn down Comm Ave, look down Brighton Ave (you know, the street with Blanchard's Liquors). You'll see a few yards of track heading down there. Believe it or not, that is all that is left of the A Line.

So what was the A Line? If you live in Brighton or Watertown, this is going to make you really jealous. It used to be a street-trolley (much like the D Line by Northeastern) that ran from that split off the B Line at Brighton Ave., down Brighton Ave., banged a left on Cambridge St., went past St. Elizabeth's hospital, through Brighton Center, through Oak Square, and ended up in Watertown Square. It actually was replaced by the 57 bus, so imagine that route. In fact if you take the 57 to the end, there are many old rails and train buildings at the Watertown termination of the 57 bus line.

The line was halted in 1967 due to low ridership with the promise that one day it would rise again. This false promise was kept up until 1990 when the tracks were finally ripped up for good and the old route was widened to better accomodate cars. This may sound familiar to anyone who lives in Jamaica Plain. Even though the rails are still in the middle of Centre St., there hasn't been a E Line train down that stretch in decades, even though the T promises it will come again. The lesson to take from all this is that the T hates having trolleys run on the street with traffic and will probably never support it again. If you've ever driven through rush hour with a train on your ass and your tires wiggling as they stick in the tracks, you can sympathize

Ok, so why aren't there like a bunch of abandoned tunnels and shit?

I have to admit, New York has us beat in this category. They have whole lines that have been shut down and abandoned, full of crazy folks and mysterious shamans. In Boston, you've just got a handful of little dead-ends and just an old Irish mafia songbird's body or two.

The most significant tunnel out there is visible at the Boylston St. Green Line station. If you are heading out of the city, just before you bend hard to the right, take a look to your left, there is a long dim tunnel that used to run way down Tremont St., through the Theater District and out onto the surface. Also of note at this bend: if you look down to your right, you'll see a track split off yours and go down under it. This connects up to the Tremont St. tunnel.

There are a couple other old bits of tunnel. On the Red Line, as you are leaving Harvard station heading inbound, look to the right through the gloom, you will see an old unused station that was used back before the Porter Square extension was built. It was a temporary station used by passengers while the modern Harvard station was built. Back then, the Red Line trains used to stop there, continue through the modern Harvard station, turn left where the underground busses go and would come to the surface in a huge rail yard where the JFK School of Government now sits by the Charles River.

And finally, there is an old tunnel that used to connect the Bowdoin Blue Line station with the MGH Red Line station. Man, how cool would it be if the Red and Blue Lines intersected again? It could happen one day.

If anyone else knows of any other significant abandoned tunnels, please let me know through the comments. And if you say the old Scollay Square turnabout, I'll kick your ass.

What's the deal with the Big Dig and when is that going to be finished?

Yeah, well, wouldn't we all like to know. This year was pretty epic for us Bostonians. Amidst flurry and fanfare we were graced with both the new I-90 extension out to Logan Airport and the new I-93 Northbound tunnel. If you haven't taken I-90 to or from Logan yet, do it; it's shockingly fast.

So what's left? Well the I-93 Southbound tunnel is meant to open in March 2004. But the word on the street is that you might find it open by Christmas 2003. After that, the "other green monster" of the old elevated highway comes down and construction begins on the parks that will replace it.

After that we get to look forward to Massachusetts attempting to start up another slew of disruptive expensive projects. The North-South Rail Link, the Urban Ring, the Indigo Line, and the Blue Line and Green Line extensions are all possibilities for the next 20 years. Let me know if you want to learn more about any of those doozies.

What's the deal with this new Silver Line thing that's showing up out of nowhere?

Unbeknownst to pretty much everyone, the T has been rolling out a new "Line" with the silver color of late. Now don't get all excited, it's not a new subway, but it is a hybrid bus-line that the T feels is important enough to include on the subway maps.

So how does it work? Well basically the first part is done: an above ground natural gas bus line from Dudley station in Roxbury, up Washington St. in a dedicated lane, through the South End and terminating downtown at the Boylston station. The second part should be done next summer and will consist of dual-mode diesel/electric buses that run underground in a tunnel from South Station, past the waterfront wasteland where the World Trade Center and future convention center are, and out to Logan Airport.

Then things get very interesting, soon the T may begin building a new tunnel to connect South Station and Boylston St. station so that the Silver Line can service the many, many riders who want to go directly from Roxbury to Logan (note the sarcasm). This will partly use the old Tremont St. tunnel described in an above question. Of course, until that tunnel is built, a full trip on the Silver Line will require that you take a bus from Roxbury to Boylston station, walk ten blocks to South Station, re-board, and take another bus to Logan. The problem with this "one seat ride from Roxbury to Logan" argument is that I can't think of any riders who want to go from one of the city's more depressed areas to the airport. This is just a weak excuse by the MBTA to cover the fact that the Silver Line is really a mechanism to get out-of-town business travelers to the new convention center quickly.

The real benefit of the Silver Line for you local folk, however, will be for those of you who live on the Red Line. You'll be able to get to your Logan terminal very quickly by transferring once at South Station, rather than the terrible Red-to-Green-to-Blue-to-shuttle combo you have to suffer now.


That's all for now. I'm sure plenty of readers have questions about transit in Boston, public or private. If we get enough questions in the Comments section below, we will answer them in a sporadic column. Interested in crazy future T projects? Want to know why the hell a highway is the way it is? Curious about the ill-fated Interstate 695 that almost destroyed half of Cambridge? Yes you are, so ask your questions, and expect our answers.