Neoplan AN440LF ETB Trolleybus 4104
Location: Massachusetts Avenue at Garden Street, Cambridge, MA
Operator of Vehicle: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Date of Photo: May 2, 2011
About a year ago, the long-running trolleybus network emanating from Harvard Station was discontinued after 86 years of operation. The first trolleybus route in the Boston area began on April 11, 1936, replacing a streetcar line that operated on the same route. Over the next three decades, the MBTA (once established) would operate 37 trolleybus routes at the network’s peak, mostly in the Cambridge area but trolleybus routes also ran in the Arborway and Dorchester areas. Most of these routes replaced streetcars but some actually replaced standard bus lines. In 1963, all but four of the trolleybus lines were converted to diesel bus routes. There prevalent theory for why the trolleybuses were not eliminated entirely at that time is that the MBTA wished to reduce the amount of diesel fumes in the bus tunnels at Harvard Station, though some attribute it to the environmentalist movement of the 1970s. The design of the Harvard Bus Tunnel resulted in the MBTA ordering trolleybuses with a door on the left side, as seen in this photo, to facilitate boarding and alighting without passengers needing to cross the bus roadway.
In any case, the trackless trolleys continued to operate through the tunnel and throughout Cambridge on these routes until March 2022. At that time, the North Cambridge Carhouse where the trolleybus fleet was based was closed in conjunction with public works projects in Cambridge and Watertown that necessitated removing the catenary used to power the vehicles. The MBTA is converting the North Cambridge Carhouse for electric bus operation, and the former trolleybus routes at this garage will be operated by electric buses when the carhouse reopens.
When the Silver Line opened in 2004, it marked the resumption of trolleybus service within Boston proper for the first time since the early 1960s. However, the MBTA has ordered hybrid buses with extended battery range to replace the current fleet of dual mode buses that operate on the Silver Line. When these new buses arrive, the trolleybus era in Greater Boston will truly end.
For more photos of MBTA Buses and Trolleybuses, please click here.