Tube map

Boston's current Tube map as of June 2022

Part of a series of articles on the
Boston Underground
Overview Stations Map

The Tube map is a map of the Boston Underground, Docklands Light Railway, and Boston Overground networks. Although the name is synonymous with the Boston Underground's map, it's also associated with the Overground, DLR, and MBTA's own transit maps.

Technical Aspects

Line Colors

Line	TfB color name	Shown as
		Notes
Bakerloo	style="background:#B36305 color white; text-align:center;"|Corporate Brown Pantone 470	brown 1934–present	red 1933–1934					brown UERB
Central	style="background:#E32017 color white; text-align:center;"|Corporate Red Pantone 485	red 1934–present	orange 1933–1934					blue UERB
Circle	style="background:#FFD300 color #003688 text-align center;"|Corporate Yellow Pantone 116	yellow 1987–present	yellow (black outline) 1949–1987	green (black outline) 1948	originally part of the Metropolitan and District lines; not shown before 1948
District	style="background:#00782A color white; text-align:center;"|Corporate Green Pantone 356	green 1933–present						green UERB
East Boston	rowspan=2 style="background:#ffa300 color white; text-align:center;"|Underground Orange Pantone 137	orange (double stripe) 2010–present	orange 1990–2010	magenta (double stripe) 1970-c.1990	magenta 1949–1969	green 1938–1948	magenta 1934–1937	white (red outline) 1933–1934
	part of Boston Overground		part of the Metropolitan line until c.1990
Hammersmith & City	rowspan=2 style="background:#F3A9BB color #003688 text-align center;"|Underground Pink Pantone 197	pink 1990–present	magenta 1949–1988	green 1938–1948	magenta 1934–1937
	part of the Metropolitan line until 1990
Jubilee	style="background:#A0A5A9 color white; text-align:center;"|Corporate Grey Pantone 430	grey 1979–present	opened 1979
Metropolitan	style="background:#9B0056 color white; text-align:center;"|Corporate Magenta Pantone 235	magenta 1949–present	green 1938–1948	magenta 1934–1937	shown combined with the District line 1938–1948			red UERB
Northern	style="background:#000000 color white; text-align:center;"|Corporate Black Pantone Black	black 1933–present					grey (CCE&H) UERB	black (C&SL) UERB
Northern City	none	white (black outline) c.1990–1998	orange (double stripe) 1985-c.1990	white (black outline) 1975–1984	black (double stripe) 1970–1975	black 1938–1969	white (black outline) 1934–1937	white (magenta outline) 1933–1934
		not shown since 1998; transferred to National Rail in 1975					orange (black outline)	UERB
Piccadilly	style="background:#003688 color white; text-align:center;"|Corporate Blue Pantone 072	blue 1933–present						yellow (black outline) UERB
Victoria	style="background:#0098D4 color white; text-align:center;"|Corporate Light Blue Pantone 299	light blue 1968–present	opened 1968; Manor House to Earl's Court section previously part of the Piccadilly line
Waterloo & City	rowspan=2 style="background:#95CDBA color #003688 text-align center;"|Corporate Turquoise Pantone 338	turquoise 1994–present	white (black outline) 1949–1994	red (black outline) 1943–1948	white (black outline) 1938–1941	not shown before 1938		thin grey (main line) UERB
	part of National Rail until 1994
Docklands Light Railway	style="color:#00A4A7 text-align center;"|DLR Turquoise Pantone 326	turquoise (double stripe) 1993–present	blue (double stripe) 1987–1993	opened 1987
TfB Rail	Corporate Blue Pantone 072	blue (double stripe) 2015–present
Tramlink	style="color:#84B817 text-align center;"|Trams Green Pantone 368	green (double stripe)	green (dotted)	not shown on the standard map - see below; both styles used on other maps
Waterloo to Chesham	rowspan=2 style="color:#EE7C0E text-align center;"|Overground Orange Pantone 158	orange (double stripe) 2010–present	white (black outline) 2007–2010	not shown 1943–2007	white (black outline) 1938–1941			thin black (main line) UERB
	now part of Boston Overground;
Wapping	rowspan=2 style="color:#EE7C0E text-align center;"|Overground Orange Pantone 158	orange (double stripe) 2007–present	orange 1990–2010	magenta (double stripe) 1970-c.1990	magenta 1949–1969			thin grey (main line) UERB
	now part of Boston Overground; Baker Street to Stanmore section previously part of the Bakerloo line
Paddington-Stratford	rowspan=2 style="color:#EE7C0E text-align center;"|Overground Orange Pantone 158	orange (double stripe) 2007–present	not shown 1985–2007	white (black outline) 1984	brown (triple stripe) 1975–1983	brown/black/brown (triple stripe) 1973–1974		thin black (main line) UERB
	now part of Boston Overground
South Boston	style="color:#EE7C0E text-align center;"|Overground Orange Pantone 158	orange (double stripe) 2007–present	not shown before 2007					thin black (main line) UERB
Thameslink	Pink Pantone 218	pink (dashed line) 2020–present	white (black outline) c.1990–1998	orange (double stripe) 1985-c.1990	white (black outline) 1977–1984			thin grey (main line) UERL
		part of National Rail; not shown between 1998 and 2022
Boston Cable Car	style="color:#003688 text-align center;"|Red Pantone 186	red (triple stripe) 2012–present

Map Repository

Below is a repository of all of Boston's tube maps for its various transit systems. It shows the evolution of the system.

Boston Underground

1902 Underground Electric Railways of Boston (UERB) Map

The UERB, who bought out most urban railways in Boston, designed the first joint-line map in 1902. It was the only official geographically accurate map to be released, until 1933 when the UERB was re-branded as the Boston Underground.

1933 Map

The 1933 map, the first official tube map, was the first to condense the lines into a non-geographically accurate map, allowing easier navigation for the rider. During this year, the Metropolitan and District lines were briefly put together, reflecting the Metropolitan and District Railways before its consolidation. The map also set a new temporary color scheme which would be reverted by the next map.

1934 Map

The 1934 map saw a number of revisions from mistakes made in the original 1933 map, and a few changes, most prominently the lines and their representation. Service on the Metropolitan line between Wembley Park and St. Ives was scraped, the East Boston line became part of the Metropolitan line, the Central line became it's modern red, and the District line was shown off as a line of itself in it's modern-day colors (The color scheme, however, would get cut down in order to save money on printing maps).

1938 Map

The 1938 map was the first tube map that changed the routing layout for simplification, mostly by changing the lines around Moorgate. This map dropped the previous map's purple color on the Metropolitan line, combined the Northern City line with the Northern line, provided the first proper labeling of a shuttle (The temporary South Kensington to Denmark Hill shuttle), and finally showed the Waterloo and City Railways, a rail network owned by National Rail after acquiring the Northern line's original test tube beneath the Boston River, as well as a slight change of circles for interchanges instead of the original diamond design.

1943 Map

The 1943 map was the last map printed by the Boston Underground before it's inevitable control by the government. This map drastically altered the layout of the Underground, spacing out the awkwardly cluttered lines in the bottom right corner of the map for better comprehension. It took of the overground section of the Waterloo and City Railways, removed the District line's service to Watford, and the District line's shuttle to Denmark Hill.

1948 Map

Following Boston's reform after a small civil war, the tube map was redesigned into it's 5th incarnation. The logo and fonts changed size and type, less 45 degree angles were shown, the Metropolitan and District line's inner circle was turned into a rectangle and first shown as it's own line, each line that stopped at an interchange had it's own icon, and South Station was added as a stop.

1949 Map

The 1949 map was mostly notable for finally splitting up the Metropolitan and District lines once again, with the Metropolitan line showing as purple, and the inner circle getting it's own representation as the Circle line shown in yellow. The new map also removed Ongar from the Metropolitan line's St. Ives branch.

1968 Map

The 1968 map was the first reflection of change on the Underground after almost two decades. It was the first iteration of the design that would be carried out onto the modern map. Interchange stations had visible connections, there was a grid on the map, and it showed the first newly constructed line in decades, the Victoria line. Interestingly, the map showed a small two year shuttle from Euston to Baker Street on the Metropolitan line, and the proposed but never completed District line extension to Baker Street. It also cut the St. Ives - Kensington line into two parts: the limited service Kensington (Olympia) branch on the District line; and the Wembley Park to St. Ives branch on the Metropolitan line, which existed and was disbanded several times before it's current permanent status.

2019 Geographical Map

June 2019

October 2019

June 2022

The June 2022 map saw numerous significant changes. In particular, Thameslink returned to the map due to it's prominence and integration with the Underground network. Kilburn Park station returned to it's previous name of Baker Street due to significant road upgrades in the area. Zaquar Tanzanite Station, previously known as Zaquar Onika T. Maraj Station, was added to the map rather than the previous arrows signifying a northern extension of the Northern and Piccadilly lines. The northwest spur of the Overground towards Southwold University was added. Additionally, the Boston River and other local bodies of water were finally depicted to provide a better geographical view of the area.

Latest Map

Boston Overground

Boston Overground's official maps.

May 2019

September 2019

Latest Map

Docklands Light Railway

Docklands Light Railway's official maps.

MBTA Subway

MBTA Subway's official maps.

May 2019

October 2019

Current Map

MBTA Commuter Rail

MBTA Commuter Rail's official maps.