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Needham Line

By adamg - 3/13/24 - 9:57 pm

CommonWealth Beacon reports Mayor Wu is continuing to look at putting some sort of education in a rebuilt West Roxbury Education Complex - and has begun talks with the T about the city building a commuter-rail stop on the Needham Line, which passes by the school. A near complete lack of transportation from the rest of the city to nearly the Dedham line was one of the reasons opponents fought to keep the O'Bryant away.

By adamg - 3/9/24 - 11:03 pm

Not everything that goes wrong on the T is the T's fault, it seems. First it was the little duck and today, the T says, it had to shut the Orange Line between Forest Hills and Back Bay after an overhead Amtrak power line unspooled or snapped or something near Ruggles, causing problems for the neighboring subway line. Read more.

By adamg - 4/10/23 - 4:54 pm
Dogs in the Charles River as a train passes by at Millennium Park

A couple of dogs jumped into the Charles River at Millennium Park this afternoon just as an inbound Needham Line train was coming through.

By adamg - 1/16/23 - 10:40 am
Snowy Arboretum just past the Archdale bridge

Mark Smith walked under the Needham Line arch at the end of Archdale Road in Roslindale and into a snowy Arnold Arboretum this morning.

By adamg - 1/11/23 - 10:27 pm
Proposed bike lanes on new bridge

Proposed layout of replacement bridge by MassDOT.

MassDOT officials tonight showed off preliminary plans for the replacement for the West Roxbury Parkway bridge over the train tracks between Holy Name Rotary and Belgrade Avenue - plans that include a new center turning lane and a bicycle lane in either direction, even though the bike lanes will initially be of little use since the parkway doesn't currently have any marked bike lanes. Read more.

By adamg - 1/29/22 - 2:15 pm
Looking through the tunnel towards the Arnold Arboretum

Paul Friedmann walked down South Street in Roslindale today and peered through the tunnel under the Needham Line train tracks towards the Arnold Arboretum.

By adamg - 7/4/21 - 9:48 am
Needham Line train in Roslindale on a Sunday

Joe D. shows us something Roslindale hasn't seen in decades: Sunday service on the Needham Line, part of the T's post-pandemic commuter-rail schedule changes.

By adamg - 6/5/21 - 11:09 pm
Workers on a piece of the new bridge at Robert Street

After connecting thick wires to a large slab of concrete, workers jumped off to help steady it as the crane lifted it to the bridge.

After one crew spent last night on equipment that gnawed away the old Needham Line bridge over Robert Street in Roslindale Square, another crew came in this morning to get the new bridge into place and ready for trains on Monday. Read more.

By adamg - 4/9/21 - 2:54 pm
Big beam

Yesterday, a trucker delivered this oversize-load sized steel beam to Robert Street in Roslindale Square so that, starting at 4 a.m. on Saturday, workers can begin to replace the bridge that now carries the Needham Line over the street. The bridge dates to 1898.

By adamg - 6/10/20 - 10:07 pm

Shortly before 10 p.m., somebody drove a pickup onto the Needham Line track at Bellevue Station off Belgrade Avenue, then ran away. Police found him not long after across Belgrade Avenue on Iona Road. Read more.

By adamg - 10/10/19 - 3:37 pm

Boston Police are thanking bystanders who helped them save the lives of two men yesterday - one of whom was getting ready to throw himself in front of a Needham Line train in Roslindale, the other of whom was trying to throw himself from an overpass onto the Expressway in Dorchester. Read more.

By adamg - 7/11/19 - 3:34 pm

MassDOT reports people who normally ride the Needham Line on Saturdays will have to find another way to get around between Aug. 3 and Oct. 12 to let workers install a "positive train control" system that will make the line safer by keeping trains from going too fast and reducing the odds they might crash into each other.

Preparation for the new system has included cutting down trees along the right of way in recent months.

By adamg - 4/12/19 - 3:20 pm
Robert Street train bridge

The MBTA plans to begin replacing the bridge that carries the Needham Line over Robert Street at the Roslindale Village train station early next year. Read more.

By adamg - 4/1/19 - 8:53 am
Onboard a darkened, dead Needham Line train near Ruggles

At 8:42 a.m., Lauren P G reported from a dead, dark Needham Line train - which was stuck behind an even deader Franklin Line train: Read more.

By adamg - 12/27/18 - 11:31 am

Way back in November, Mike Schreck wondered why one particular evening train on the Needham Line left Back Bay at 6:01 p.m. rather than the scheduled 6:03 p.m., which meant he missed the train home. Last week, he finally got an answer from Keolis: Read more.

By adamg - 11/25/18 - 10:19 pm

Keolis crews have been going down the Needham Line in recent days chopping down trees and limbs along the track that "are dead or could fall in storm and stop service," a MassDot spokesperson says.

By adamg - 11/21/18 - 9:11 am
Sunrise from the Needham Line

Will Vincent watched the sunrise from an inbound Needham Line train in Roslindale this morning.

Rick Macomber, meanwhile, was on the Zakim: Read more.

By adamg - 10/28/18 - 3:11 pm
Locomotive on fire in West Roxbury

Karl Seibert photographed the flames on a diesel behind the police station and the Roche Center in West Roxbury around 2:20 p.m. Took some video of firefighters clambering on the engine.

There is no passenger service on the line on Sundays.

By adamg - 10/22/18 - 8:47 am

Kerry O'Brien is on a Needham Line train with no heat, no light and no open seats. On the bright side, it is moving.

By adamg - 9/24/18 - 8:54 am
Overcrowded train at Roslindale Village

Around 8:15 a.m., Kerry O'Brien reported an inbound Needham Line train was so crowded people at Roslindale Village couldn't get on.

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