Pleasant Street incline

On June 10, 1901, streetcar service through the portal stopped, as the Washington Street Elevated (later part of the Orange Line) was connected to the two outermost tracks.

The Tremont Street line was bustituted as the 43 route on November 20, 1961, and a streetcar shuttle started between the portal and Boylston, with transfers to the subway.

[2] Plans for the Phase III tunnel were shifted further west to new alignments, then canceled due to questions over the project's cost-effectiveness.

[3] The 2003 Program for Mass Transportation included the possibility of converting the Washington Street section of the Silver Line to Dudley Square to light rail (as had originally been promised) using the abandoned southern section of the subway to connect to the central subway at Boylston.

[4] In 2012, the Roxbury-Dorchester-Mattapan Transit Needs Study recommended the conversion to light rail and reuse of the tunnel as a long-term project, with the additional possibility of extending the line down Blue Hill Avenue to Mattapan along the #28 route.

Map of the portal area, showing the former street configuration
Pleasant Street portal in 1901 when the Main Line operated through the Tremont Street subway. An inbound Main Line (now Orange Line) test train is at the high platform at left, while an inbound trolley is on the right. This view faces south, away from the portal.
Looking south at the flying junction approaching the portal. The left branch goes to the inbound tracks from Shawmut Avenue/City Point and Tremont Street, the right branch to the outbound tracks to Shawmut Avenue/City Point (mid right) and Tremont Street (far right).
Silver Line Phase III alternatives. The Tremont Street alignment (yellow) would have reused the former streetcar tunnel for buses.