Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 20 hours ago
As of 2025, MBTA’s oldest rapid transit cars in revenue service are the Pullman-Standard (Number 1) cars running on the Red Line, built in 1969 and 1970. Mostly built slightly before the BART A and B cars, these cars were built to support the South Shore extension to Quincy, (later extended to Braintree). The first 01600 series were delivered on August 5, 1969 and entered limited revenue service on the Harvard-Ashmont line by fall 1969, followed by the Quincy extension in 1971. Nicknamed the “Silver Birds” these cars had a striking brushed-aluminum finish, promoted as giving “superior weather protection, visibility, and eye appeal.” Pullman built a total of 76 cars, x24 01500s (#01500-01523) built as single cars, while x52 01600s (#01600-01651) were built as married pairs (or in MBTA terms, “deuces”), allowing for the ability to have a wide variety of train lengths.
In terms of amenities, these were Boston’s BART generation cars. Compared to the “Blue Bird” cars built earlier in the 1960s for the Harvard-Ashmont line (which these South Shore cars supplemented), these new Silver Birds had air conditioning, fluorescent lighting, and cab signalling, alongside transverse seats (for the suburban and automobile-focused commuters the expansion and these cars were supposed to serve).
The South Shore line ridership was higher than expacted and the seating was replaced in the early 1980s to allow for greater passenger circulation. In November 1984, MBTA awarded General Electric Corporation a $35.4 million contact to overhaul the 76 Silverbird cars. The cars were overhauled in the PX Engineering facility in South Boston, the work included overhauling propulsion, air brake, and air conditioning systems alongside replacement of interior floors, walls, door controls, and installing new seating arrangement in 25 of the cars. The cars also received their now familiar red livery and the 01500s losing their secondary cabs (but supposedly retain their ability to run as single cars).
These cars were supplemented by the similar Number 2 cars (01700s), of which they are able to run mixed consists of 01500s, 01600s, and 01700s as seen throughout the video. The 01800s/Number 3 cars supplemented them, but the newest cars, the 1900s/Number 4 cars built by CRRC were ordered to expressly replace them. With plenty of delays, the CRRC cars have been slowly replacing these old Pullman cars, resulting in the cars still retaining about half of Red Line service in early 2025.
In November 2025, I rode almost 3/4th of the remaining Pullman cars (13 of the 18). Now in their 56th year of service, these cars are on borrowed time and then some – a testament to their construction and maintenance over the years. Many say they were supposed to be retired by now, but it was nice to get some first and probably last rides on them during this trip.
0:00 01506/01507, 01500/01501, 01503/01502 at State Street
0:25 01711/01710, 01616/01617, 01738/01739 at Porter
1:07 01700/01701, 01521/01520, 01723/01722 at Wollaston
1:37 01631/01630, 01508/01507 at Wollaston
1:57 01521, 01701/01700 at South Station
2:17 01516/01517 at Harvard
2:34 1508/1509 and more at Central
3:19 01711/01710, 01616/01617, 01738/01739 at Davis
3:50 01509/01508, ???, 01706/01707 at Downtown Crossing
4:22 Riding 01507 departing JFK/UMass riding to North Quincy
11:02 Riding 01523 departing Davis
More about the BART fleet at: BARTchives.com
As of 2025, MBTA’s oldest rapid transit cars in revenue service are the Pullman-Standard (Number 1) cars running on the Red Line, built in 1969 and 1970. Mostly built slightly before the BART A and B cars, these cars were built to support the South Shore extension to Quincy, (later extended to Braintree). The first 01600 series were delivered on August 5, 1969 and entered limited revenue service on the Harvard-Ashmont line by fall 1969, followed by the Quincy extension in 1971. Nicknamed the “Silver Birds” these cars had a striking brushed-aluminum finish, promoted as giving “superior weather protection, visibility, and eye appeal.” Pullman built a total of 76 cars, x24 01500s (#01500-01523) built as single cars, while x52 01600s (#01600-01651) were built as married pairs (or in MBTA terms, “deuces”), allowing for the ability to have a wide variety of train lengths.
In terms of amenities, these were Boston’s BART generation cars. Compared to the “Blue Bird” cars built earlier in the 1960s for the Harvard-Ashmont line (which these South Shore cars supplemented), these new Silver Birds had air conditioning, fluorescent lighting, and cab signalling, alongside transverse seats (for the suburban and automobile-focused commuters the expansion and these cars were supposed to serve).
The South Shore line ridership was higher than expacted and the seating was replaced in the early 1980s to allow for greater passenger circulation. In November 1984, MBTA awarded General Electric Corporation a $35.4 million contact to overhaul the 76 Silverbird cars. The cars were overhauled in the PX Engineering facility in South Boston, the work included overhauling propulsion, air brake, and air conditioning systems alongside replacement of interior floors, walls, door controls, and installing new seating arrangement in 25 of the cars. The cars also received their now familiar red livery and the 01500s losing their secondary cabs (but supposedly retain their ability to run as single cars).
These cars were supplemented by the similar Number 2 cars (01700s), of which they are able to run mixed consists of 01500s, 01600s, and 01700s as seen throughout the video. The 01800s/Number 3 cars supplemented them, but the newest cars, the 1900s/Number 4 cars built by CRRC were ordered to expressly replace them. With plenty of delays, the CRRC cars have been slowly replacing these old Pullman cars, resulting in the cars still retaining about half of Red Line service in early 2025.
In November 2025, I rode almost 3/4th of the remaining Pullman cars (13 of the 18). Now in their 56th year of service, these cars are on borrowed time and then some – a testament to their construction and maintenance over the years. Many say they were supposed to be retired by now, but it was nice to get some first and probably last rides on them during this trip.
0:00 01506/01507, 01500/01501, 01503/01502 at State Street
0:25 01711/01710, 01616/01617, 01738/01739 at Porter
1:07 01700/01701, 01521/01520, 01723/01722 at Wollaston
1:37 01631/01630, 01508/01507 at Wollaston
1:57 01521, 01701/01700 at South Station
2:17 01516/01517 at Harvard
2:34 1508/1509 and more at Central
3:19 01711/01710, 01616/01617, 01738/01739 at Davis
3:50 01509/01508, ???, 01706/01707 at Downtown Crossing
4:22 Riding 01507 departing JFK/UMass riding to North Quincy
11:02 Riding 01523 departing Davis
More about the BART fleet at: BARTchives.com
