Long Awaited Green Line Extension Opens Today North of Boston

The Green Line Extension project, in the works for decades, is now providing rail transit service from Boston north into Somerville.

1 minute read

March 21, 2022, 11:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


A map showing the route of a light rail transit line from Boston up through Somerville and Medford.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts / The Green Line Extension project map.

The Union Square Branch of the Green Line Extension Project, with service to Somerville, opens today in Massachusetts.

An article by Adrianna MacNeill previewed this milestone event for the decades-long Green Line Extension Project (GLX), noting the new access to transit offered to public transit by the new rail line's opening. MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo is quoted in the article saying: "When both branches of GLX are open, 80% of Somerville’s population will be within walking distance of a rail station. Today, that figure is only 20%."

The other branch Pesaturo is referring to is the Medford Branch, which is expected to open this summer. "In all, there will be six new stations, as well as a reconstructed and relocated Lechmere station. The new stations include Union Square on the first phase, plus East Somerville, Gilman Square, Magoun Square, Ball Square, and College Avenue stations as part of the second," reports MacNeill.

The source article, linked below, includes more detail on the long history of planning leading up to today's historic opening, as well as the most recent history of delays from the past several years. For more background, see also articles previewing the opening, published earlier this year by the Boston Globe and Boston.Com.  

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