The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the MBTA running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities. From the northwest, the line begins in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Alewife station, near the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2. The line passes through downtown Boston, with transfers to the Green Line at Park Street station, the Orange Line at Downtown Crossing, and the Silver Line at South Station.

South of downtown, the line splits at JFK/UMass station, where one branch provides service to Braintree station and the other to Ashmont station. A connection to the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line extends the reach of the Ashmont branch to Mattapan station. Regular fare is $1.70 when using a CharlieCard or $2.00 when using cash or a Charlie Ticket, regardless of point of boarding or departure.

Exit fares on the Braintree extension were discontinued in 2007. Approximate travel times to or from Park Street station are as follows: northbound to Harvard station, 11 minutes; Alewife station, 20 minutes; southbound to JFK/UMass, 8 minutes; Ashmont station, 17 minutes; Braintree station, 28 minutes. The Red Line was the last of the four original Boston subway lines (Green, Orange, Blue) to begin construction.

The section from Harvard station and Eliot Yard connecting to Park Street station and the Tremont Street Subway opened on March 23, 1912. At Harvard, a prepayment station was provided for easy transfer to streetcar routes operating in a separate tunnel (now the Harvard Bus Tunnel). Opening of the line required construction of the Cambridge Tunnel just beneath Massachusetts Avenue and Main Street from Harvard onto the (now historic) Longfellow Bridge.

The line occupied a previously constructed rail right-of-way in the center of the bridge. On the Boston side of the bridge, the line briefly transformed into an elevated railway, rising over Charles Circle and connecting to another tunnel dug through Beacon Hill to Park Street. Further extensions (built as the Dorchester Tunnel) to Washington Street and South Station opened on April 4, 1915 and December 3, 1916, with transfers to the Washington Street Tunnel and Atlantic Avenue Elevated respectively.

Further extensions opened to Broadway on December 15, 1917 and Andrew on June 29, 1918, both prepayment stations for streetcar transfer. The Broadway station included an upper level with its own tunnel for streetcars, which was abandoned in 1919 due to most lines being truncated to Andrew. The upper level has since been incorporated into the mezzanine.

Next came the Dorchester Extension, now known as the Ashmont Branch. The branch followed a rail right-of-way created in 1870 by the Shawmut Branch Railroad. In 1872, the right-of-way was acquired by the Old Colony Railroad to connect the main line at Harrison Square with the Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad, running from the Old Colony at Neponset, west to what is now Mattapan station.

The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad succeeded Old Colony in operating the branch and rail passenger service ceased in anticipation of the MTA expansion on September 4, 1926,

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