Boston's MBTA Subway Trains

Visitors to Boston will find the Red Line and Green Line most useful for seeing the sights. The Blue Line and Silver Line are useful for getting to and from Logan Airport. Fare is $1.25 for most rides.

Red Line
You'll find the Red Line most useful for travel between South Station Transportation Center, (Amtrak intercity trains, MBTA Commuter Rail trains, and intercity buses), Downtown Crossing (the heart of Boston's shopping district), Park Street (beneath Boston Common) and Harvard Square.

The Red Line goes from Alewife Station on the Cambridge/Arlington border to Davis Square (for Tufts University), Porter Square, Harvard Square (for Harvard University), Central Square, Kendall Square (for MIT), Charles Street (for Massachusetts General Hospital), through Boston's main subway station at Park Street beneath Boston Common, then to the heart of Boston shopping at Downtown Crossing, then to South Station Transportation Center, then on to JFK/U Mass (for the John F Kennedy Library), and on to the suburbs of Quincy, Braintree and Mattapan.

Green Line
The elaborate Green Line goes from Lechmere Square near the Museum of Science in East Cambridge through Park Street Station (beneath Boston Common) and central Boston, to Copley Square, after which it splits into four lines. Green Line trains can take you from Boston Common to Copley Square, the Hynes Convention Center, Kenmore Square, Symphony Hall, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, but you must be careful to board the right one of the four train for your destination in central Boston.

Outbound Green Line trains emerge from underground and serve as trolleys after they leave the central part of the city. Outbound passengers boarding at stations beyond Kenmore and Symphony stations ride for free. If you catch an inbound Green Line train above ground, however, you pay the entire fare in exact change to your central Boston destination (which may cost up to $2) when you get on.

Blue Line
The Blue Line connects downtown Boston (Government Center, State Street) with the Airport station at Logan International Airport. You can also use the Blue Line to reach the New England Aquarium.

Orange Line
The Orange Line between Oak Grove and Forest Hills is not all that useful to out-of-town visitors, though you may want to use it to travel between Chinatown, Downtown Crossing, State Street and Haymarket.

Silver Line
The Silver Line is a limited-access bus line rather than a train, connecting South Station Transportation Center with Logan Airport, Boston's World Trade Center, Boston Industrial Park, and City Point. If you want to travel between Logan Airport and an Amtrak or Commuter Rail train at South Station, the Silver Line is the cheapest and fastest way to do it.

Discount Fares
Children under 5 years of age ride free. Kids 5 to 11 pay 60¢ for most rides. Junior and senior high school students must have an MBTA Student ID Badge to qualify for the 60¢ student fare.

Seniors 65 years and older pay 35¢ at most stations if they have an MBTA Senior Citizen ID Card.

Hours of Operation
Times on subway and bus lines vary, but you're pretty sure of being able to take the T any day from 5 am up to 12:30 am (and up to 1 am on some lines).

After that, be prepared to take a taxi, unless you get the final trip time from an officer of the line, and meet the schedule. Hours may vary on Sunday.

More Information
Visit the MBTA website or the MBTA Information Booth at Park Street Station beneath Boston Common.

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