The Orange Line is the city’s north-south spine. From Forest Hills it runs up the Southwest Corridor through Jamaica Plain and Roxbury, along the edge of the South End to Back Bay, under downtown, and across the river through Charlestown, Somerville and Medford before ending at Oak Grove in Malden. There are no branches: every train serves all 20 stations, so the question for a buyer is simply which stop and how far a walk.
Stations and connections here are from the MBTA’s route data, checked October 2026. Notes on housing come from our area guides, linked throughout.
- Forest Hills
- Green Street
- Stony Brook
- Jackson Square
- Roxbury Crossing
- Ruggles
- Massachusetts Avenue
- Back Bay
- Tufts Medical Center
- Chinatown
- Downtown Crossing
- State
- Haymarket
- North Station
- Community College
- Sullivan Square
- Assembly
- Wellington
- Malden Center
- Oak Grove
Forest Hills to Ruggles: the Southwest Corridor
From Forest Hills to Back Bay, the line runs beside the Southwest Corridor Park, a 4.1-mile state park (run by the Department of Conservation and Recreation) with paths that many people use to walk or bike to their station.
Forest Hills is the southern terminal, at the edge of Jamaica Plain near the Arnold Arboretum. It’s also a commuter rail stop (Needham and Franklin/Foxboro lines) and a bus hub. Our Roslindale and West Roxbury guides note that many local buses there run to Forest Hills, and Dedham has buses 34E and 35 to it as well. For those areas, Forest Hills is effectively the subway station.
Green Street, Stony Brook and Jackson Square complete the Jamaica Plain stops. Near them you’ll see triple-deckers, Victorian and Colonial Revival single-families, two-families and condo conversions. Pockets like Stony Brook, where the old brewery buildings still stand, and Forest Hills each have a different mix of houses and lot sizes.
Our Roxbury guide counts Jackson Square among its stations too, along with Roxbury Crossing and Ruggles. Roxbury’s stock includes Victorian single-families and rowhouses, Italianate and Queen Anne houses, triple-deckers and new condo buildings. Roxbury Crossing is also the closest Orange Line stop to Mission Hill. Ruggles, next to Northeastern, is a commuter rail stop for the Providence/Stoughton, Needham and Franklin/Foxboro lines.
Massachusetts Avenue to Chinatown: brownstone Boston
| Station | Areas within walking distance | Housing nearby |
|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts Avenue | South End | Brownstone condos, loft conversions, some single-family rowhouses |
| Back Bay | South End, Back Bay | Brownstone condos, full-service buildings, some townhouses |
| Tufts Medical Center | South End, Chinatown, Bay Village | Brick rowhouses, mid-rise buildings, high-rise condo towers |
| Chinatown | Chinatown, Downtown | 1800s brick rowhouses, modern towers |
Back Bay station is also one of the city’s main commuter rail and Amtrak stops, served by the Framingham/Worcester, Providence/Stoughton, Needham and Franklin/Foxboro lines. The South End’s Silver Line service (SL4 and SL5) runs along Washington Street, a few blocks from the Orange Line, with a stop at Washington Street and Tufts Medical Center, so some South End blocks are closer to the Silver Line than to the train.
Through downtown: four transfer points in a row
The middle of the line is where it does the most connecting.
- Downtown Crossing: Red Line.
- State: Blue Line, toward East Boston and the airport.
- Haymarket: Green Line, and a short walk to the North End, whose housing is condos and apartments in four- and five-story brick buildings.
- North Station: Green Line and the north-side commuter rail (Fitchburg, Haverhill, Lowell and Newburyport/Rockport lines), at the edge of the West End’s high-rise condos.
Charlestown and Somerville
North of the river, Community College and Sullivan Square serve Charlestown. Expect Federal and Greek Revival rowhouses, wood-frame attached homes, and condos in converted Navy Yard buildings and newer developments. The Navy Yard side of the neighborhood also has the F4 ferry to Long Wharf, an alternative to the train. Sullivan Square is also the nearest station for parts of Everett.
Assembly is Somerville’s Orange Line stop, built into Assembly Row on former industrial land along the Mystic River, with apartments, offices and shops. The newer buildings here are a contrast with the triple-deckers and two-families that fill most of the city. The rest of Somerville is closer to the Green Line or Davis on the Red Line.
Medford and Malden: the northern end
Wellington is in Medford, near the Mystic, with apartment and condo buildings around the station. Elsewhere in Medford the housing shifts to Colonial and Victorian single-families, many two-families and condo conversions, and much of the city is closer to the Green Line at Medford/Tufts or the Lowell Line at West Medford than to Wellington.
Malden has the last two stops, Malden Center and Oak Grove, and both double as Haverhill Line commuter rail stations. Near Malden Center there are mid-rise condo and apartment buildings, while the surrounding neighborhoods are mostly Victorian single-families, two-families and triple-deckers. Oak Grove sits close to the Melrose line, so it is also the nearest subway stop for many homes in Melrose, where Queen Anne and Colonial Revival Victorians, early 1900s Colonials and two-families are common.
Questions to ask about a home near the Orange Line
- Which station, really? On the Southwest Corridor several stations are close together, and the walk to each can differ a lot by street.
- Is commuter rail an option? Six stations double as commuter rail stops. A home near Forest Hills, Ruggles, Back Bay, North Station, Malden Center or Oak Grove has a second rail choice.
- What’s the transfer? If you’ll ride to the Red, Blue or Green Line every day, note which station you’d change at.
- What’s posted on mbta.com? Check mbta.com/alerts for planned work at the stations you’d rely on, and use the MBTA trip planner for ride times rather than an estimate.
- What kind of building? Near many of these stations a large share of homes are condos, so read up on condo documents and fees before you make an offer.
For the condo side, see buying a condo in Boston; for two- and three-families like the triple-deckers along both ends of the line, see buying a multi-family. The Red Line guide covers the line you can transfer to at Downtown Crossing.
When you’re ready to look at homes near a particular stop, The Pettengill Group can set up a search around it. Start your search or contact the team.