'A' Line Makes Triumphant Return From Self-Imposed Exile, Wiser, Stronger, and Ready to Save the City

WATERTOWN—At a time when MBTA affairs seemed bleakest, amid threats of fare hikes, late night hour removal and incessant recording, the fabled A Line has made its grand re-entrance to right all that has gone wrong.All who are familiar with the legend of the legendary ‘A’ branch of the Green Line know it vanished many years ago, having willfully removed itself from the transit landscape until it knew it was once more needed.“My grandfather told me stories of the 'A’ Line,” said Bolton Hayes (CAS '16), “but I never quite believed him. They involved the trips his own grandfather would take to that old village, I think it was called Watertown. It had the only well in the city.”Universally beloved, the 'A’ Line existed peacefully but in a personal state of solemnity as it foresaw future crises the city would endure. In the early 1800s, the fabled line left Boston with few words aside from the promise of its return, stronger, and at a time when it was needed most."That time has finally come,“ rejoiced Mayor Marty Walsh, "our city can rest at ease knowing our long awaited, but not forgotten, hero has returned.”Though still functioning with the same 1800s mechanisms and aesthetic from its time, the 'A’ Line has visibly aged, denoting both experience and a rat having eaten away at it a little over the course of two centuries. Its headlights are  now tired and worn with suffering and knowledge, but its engine seems determined as ever to fulfill its destiny."Frankly, the city seemed done for,“ admitted Lucy Torres (ENG '19). "I just got here in September and could feel the overall morale draining under these painful times. I had heard of the 'A’ Line, but simply assumed it had been banished years ago for misdeeds against humanity. It’s a godsend to know it has come back to save us.”Just as it left, the train said little as it arrived, aside from a noble yet weathered “This is the train to Watertown. Please use the front doors.”At press time, Commonwealth Avenue is especially crowded now that there are two Green Line branches running along it.