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|image = Needham Line train 614.jpg |image_width = 300px |caption = Needham Line train #614 leaving Forest Hills inbound to South Station. |type = Commuter rail |system = MBTA Commuter Rail |status = |locale = Greater Boston |start = Needham Heights |end = South Station |stations = 12 |routes = |ridership = 6,972 Daily Weekday (2014) 12 Saturday (2014) 44 Sunday (2014) |open = |close = |owner = MBTA |operator = Keolis North America |character = |stock = |linelength = 9.3 Miles |tracklength = |notrack = |gauge = |el = |speed = |elevation = |map = |}} The Needham Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running west from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, and the town of Needham. The second-shortest line of the system at just 13.7 miles long, it carries 8,218 daily riders.〔 Unlike the other MBTA Commuter Rail lines, the Needham Line is not a former intercity mainline; instead, it is formed from several former branch lines. ==History== The line from Forest Hills to West Roxbury was built around 1835 as part of the Dedham Branch of the Boston and Providence Rail Road. The Charles River Branch Railroad opened from Brookline Village to Newton Upper Falls in 1852, and to approximately Needham Center in 1853. The line was used to haul gravel from Needham quarries to fill in the Back Bay from 1858 to the 1880s. Around 1870, the line was extended southwest to Woonsocket, Rhode Island. In 1886, the Boston and Albany Railroad extended the original Charles River Branch Railroad line from Cook Junction to its main line at Riverside, forming the complete Highland Branch. The Needham Cutoff opened on November 4, 1906 from West Roxbury to Needham Junction, allowing trains from the former New York and New England Railroad to reach Boston without needing to use the Highland Branch. Building the cutoff required a significant length of difficult rock cuts - "one of the heaviest pieces of short railroad construction ever attempted in New England" - reaching a depth of at Great Plain Avenue. Originally Needham Junction was the only stop on the cutoff; Bird's Hill opened as an infill station in 1917.〔 The segment from West Roxbury to Dedham was subsequently abandoned; the segment from Needham Junction to Cook Junction saw reduced passenger service. Loop service began operating over the Cutoff and the Highland Branch via Needham around 1911. The remaining line was purchased by the MBTA from Penn Central on January 27, 1973, along with most of the other southside lines.〔 The commuter rail stop at Forest Hills, not used since 1940 as the adjacent Washington Street Elevated provided more frequent service, was reopened in June 1973.〔 When the plans to replace the Elevated were drawn up in the 1960s, the new Orange Line was planned to continue past Forest Hills to Needham Heights, replacing the Needham Line. However, as the project was stalled over the next few decades, funding was found only to complete the replacement portion to Forest Hills in 1987, and so the Needham Line was kept as a locomotive-hauled commuter service. During Southwest Corridor construction from 1979 to 1987, the line was closed. Historically, the line has had Saturday service but not Sunday service. Experimental Sunday service was operated from July 11, 1992 until February 14, 1993 along with other new southside weekend service, some of which was made permanent. As part of systemwide service cuts due to budget shortfalls, Saturday service was eliminated on July 7, 2012.〔 $300,000 in funding for Saturday service restoration was included in the state's 2015 budget as early as August 2014. On October 7, 2014, the MBTA announced the return of Saturday service on the Needham Line, as well as weekend service on the Greenbush Line and Plymouth/Kingston Line. The restored weekend service began on December 27, 2014. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Needham Line」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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