Large format prints are available at my vanmaps.com store.

I was more than a little surprised by the response from the NYC Subway Track Map. The feedback was overwhelming and I want to thank all the railfans and transit nerds out there who contacted me with corrections. So with that in mind I am happy to announce the next map in what will certainly be a popular series, the Complete and Geographically Accurate Boston MBTA Subway Track Map. Like the NYC Map the Boston Map shows the tracks (and in some cases non-tracked tunnels) of every line in the MBTA system.

Unlike New York the Boston subway system (oldest in the US!) has a long history of detailed track maps throughout the ages. As a far less complex system I feel like the Boston Elevated Railroad (the company which ran the subway from 1989 until 1947) used the track map as a marketing tool so riders would have a clearer sense of where they were going. When the MBTA was created in 1964 it chose to modernize wayfinding (much as the MTA did in New York in the 1970s) by creating a color coded line system which gave rise to the Red, Blue, Orange, and Green Lines we know today. As part of that modernization system maps became more striped down and cartoonish as we know them today.

The purpose of my map is to do away with simplification and see the system for what it is with all tracks, revenue and non-revenue alike, along with train yards and, of course, abandoned sections. It was my time growing up in Boston hearing about the abandoned tunnels and unbuilt lines which gave rise to my love of urban planning, transit, and ultimately the creation of this website. So you could say this map is a bit of a home coming; going full circle.

Transit in Boston is more nuanced than in other cities as it has a large variety of options: heavy rail, light rail (including streetcars), trackless trolleys, BRT, and commuter rail (there are also ferries but these aren’t included in the map). The Green Line was part of the first subway in the United States and over the years has seen the most change. Once a vast multitude of streetcars ran through the Tremont St subway but as buses replaced them the lines were cut back to the four we know today. Some streetcars were converted to electric buses, known as trackless trolleys, and a small network still remains in Cambridge. Once the Orange Line was elevated from Forest Hills to Everett with a branch running along Atlantic Ave but over the last century the elevated sections were replaced by modern subways. As the T expanded in the latter half of the 20th century many of the old steam railroads became cheaper alternatives than digging new tunnels and many of the subway extensions built after World War 2 utilized these paths. Commuter rail, too, has had a remarkable comeback after private railroads started to collapse with the rise of the car. Boston can boast greater transit coverage for a city of its size than almost any other American city.

[UPDATE]

The reaction to the first version of this map was mixed, to say the least, and many people asked about the commuter rail. I went back and decided that just showing the subways didn’t paint a true enough picture of transit in Boston so I have released version 2 which adds both Commuter Rail and the Trackless Trolleys that run from Harvard Sq. I also added many of the abandoned steam railroad rights of way.

Large format prints are available at my vanmaps.com store.