on October 1, 1957, and the state Department of Public Utilities on December 6. The Interstate Commerce Commission gave a certificate of abandonment early in 1958. The B&A ran its last passenger trains on the branch on May 31, 1958. On June 9, the $7.0 million main construction contract (equivalent to $ million in ) was awarded to the Perini Corporation. The MTA acquired the line from the B&A at a cost of $600,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) on June 24. Work began with a groundbreaking ceremony on July 10, 1958. The work was done at relatively low cost by reusing the railroad infrastructure, including bridges and tracks; the only new right-of-way was a tunnel connecting Fenway station with the existing Beacon Street Line subway. Using trains of streetcars represented a substantial savings versus using third-rail rapid transit trains, which would have required significant work in the existing subway. Ten of the twelve existing station sites on the line were reused for new stations; two others, Riverside and Woodland, were relocated. An additional station, Fenway Park, was added at Park Drive. Small wooden shelters and new platforms were built at the stations; a larger brick waiting room was built at Riverside. All but three of the old station buildings were demolished for parking lots. These lots included a 1,960-space lot at Riverside, a 350-space lot at Woodland, and smaller lots at six other stations. A storage yard was built at Riverside, and a connection with the existing Reservoir Carhouse of the Beacon Street Line was made at Reservoir station. An overhead loop for short turns was also built at Reservoir. The line was electrified with 600 V DC overhead lines; a new substation was built at Cook Street to power the Riverside–Reservoir section, while the inner section was fed by existing substations. Three-aspect color light block signals, similar to those already used in the subway, were added. They were spaced to allow four-minute headways west of Reservoir and two-minute headways to the east. Train testing began on June 11, 1959. Streetcar operation began on the Highland branch on July 4, 1959. Trains operated with one to three PCC streetcars. By the end of 1959, the line carried 26,000 daily riders, versus 3,140 before conversion. Initial plans called for every other train to short turn at Reservoir. However, the outer section of the line had higher ridership than expected,