The Fairmount Line or Dorchester Branch is a line of the

MBTA Commuter Rail The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track to 141 different stations, with 58 stati ...

system in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Except for a short portion in Milton, it lies entirely within Boston, running southwest from

South Station South Station, officially The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station, is the largest railroad station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston and New England's second-largest transportation center after Logan ...

through the neighborhoods of Dorchester,

Mattapan Mattapan () is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. Historically a section of neighboring Dorchester, Mattapan became a part of Boston when Dorchester was annexed in 1870. Mattapan is the original Native American name for the Dorchester ar ...

and Hyde Park. Weekend service began on November 29, 2014. Most trains reverse direction at the south end at

Readville Readville is part of the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston. Readville's ZIP Code is 02136. It was called Dedham Low Plains from 1655 until it was renamed after the mill owner James Read in 1847. It was part of Dedham until 1867. It is served by ...

, but some Franklin Line trains use the Fairmount Line rather than the

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, ...

. On October 21, 2019, some Fairmount Line trains were extended over the Franklin Line to as part of the Foxboro Line. From the 1980s until 2012, the Fairmount Line had only five stations: three plus the two termini (South Station and Readville); however, three more stations were added to the line between 2012 and 2013. The first of these, Talbot Avenue, opened on November 12, 2012, followed by Newmarket and Four Corners/Geneva on July 1, 2013. Due to neighborhood opposition over its design and location, another planned station, Blue Hill Avenue, did not open until February 25, 2019. All stations on the line are fully

accessible Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

. The corridor currently serves mostly

low-income Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

and

working-class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

communities.Fairmount/Indigo Line Coalition Comments on Fare Increase, 6/29/2006
/ref> Despite frequent cancellations, a June 2016 count showed that ridership had nearly tripled from 2012. While the line is still among the least-used on the MBTA Commuter Rail system, it has seen significant recent growth from 789 daily riders in 2012 to 2,652 in 2018 and 2,843 in 2022.

History

Former service

The line was built as an entrance to Boston for the Norfolk County Railroad and its successors, which originally had to rely on a connection via the

Boston and Providence Railroad The Boston and Providence Railroad was a railroad company in the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island which connected its namesake cities. It opened in two sections in 1834 and 1835 - one of the first rail lines in the United States - with a ...

(B&P) from Dedham. The new line, built in 1855, split from the old one at

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

and ran northeast, crossing the Boston and Providence Railroad at

. It continued on through Hyde Park and Dorchester before crossing the

Old Colony Railroad The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall Ri ...

at South Bay Junction. The line continued into

South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformat ...

and made a sweeping curve along a

trestle ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Laborato ...

west to downtown Boston and a terminal at Dewey Square. After several failed reorganizations, the line became part of the

New York and New England Railroad The New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE) was a railroad connecting southern New York State with Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated under that name from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was ...

(NY&NE) in 1873 and the New England Railroad in 1895. The New England was leased to the

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

(NYNH&H) in 1898 and became their Midland Division. The line was operationally split at the junction with the Boston and Providence (also leased by the NYNH&H) at Readville, with many trains using the Midland from the southwest switching to the B&P, and some on the B&P from the south switching to the Midland. In 1899, the new South Station

union station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

opened, and a new set of tracks was built for the Midland on the west side of the Old Colony Railroad mainline, also part of the NYNH&H. The old South Boston station (located on West 1st Street between A and B Streets) was abandoned, being north of the junction with the new alignment, and the old terminal was no longer used, with the last bit of the old line (over

Fort Point Channel Fort Point Channel is a maritime channel separating South Boston from downtown Boston, Massachusetts, feeding into Boston Harbor. The south part of it has been gradually filled in for use by the South Bay rail yard and several highways (specif ...

) removed, and the rest used for freight only. South Boston was however served by the station that had been built for the Old Colony, now between the Old Colony and Midland tracks. Under New Haven Railroad control, most intercity and some commuter trains from the former NY&NE (now the Franklin Line) switched onto the

mainline (former B&P) at Readville, with Midland Branch service largely limited to local trains. Passenger service last ran on the Midland north of Readville in 1944 after a long period of declining ridership, though the line continued to be used for freight service to South Boston.

Restoration of passenger service

The MBTA had bought the Franklin Line tracks south of Readville from

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and th ...

in 1973. In 1976, the MBTA bought the Midland line from Readville to Southampton Street. On December 7, 1976, the agency awarded a $3.7 million contract to modernized the line for use as a bypass while the Northeast Corridor was closed during the Southwest Corridor project. Three of the former stations – , and – were rebuilt with bare asphalt platforms and opened for local commuter service. On November 3, 1979, all trains on the Franklin and Providence/Stoughton Lines, as well as

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

intercity service, were rerouted via the Midland. The restored service on the line was not intended to be permanent; however, it became locally popular. Uphams Corner and Morton Street stations closed on January 30, 1981, as part of system-wide cuts that also included the closure of the Woburn Branch. On October 5, 1987, the new Southwest Corridor opened to commuter service; most Franklin Line and Attleboro/Stoughton Line service was rerouted through it. The MBTA began operating the Fairmount Shuttle (later known as the Fairmount Line) between South Station and Fairmount on the old Midland tracks as a response to community demand. The stops at Morton Street and Uphams Corner were renovated and reopened. The shuttle was extended to Readville on November 30, 1987. The route – sometimes called the Dorchester Branch by the MBTA – is used by some rush-hour Franklin Line trains to reduce load on the three-track Southwest Corridor and supplement the shuttle service. An MBTA study released in 2010 indicated that the most workable routing options for full-time service to Foxboro would involve extending some or all Fairmount Line trips to Foxboro over part of the Franklin Line. Some Providence/Stoughton Line trips used the Fairmount Line tracks until around 2004, when they were rerouted to the mainline to avoid passing through

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

's Readville 1-Yard. During disruptions on the Northeast Corridor north of Readville, Franklin and Providence service is sometimes diverted over the Fairmount Line. All grade crossings on the line were eliminated by the 1920s except Bird Street in Dorchester. After a quarter-century of debate, plans to replace it with a road bridge at Cedar Place were cancelled in 1941 due to a steel shortage. The crossing was finally closed in the late 1970s in preparation for passenger service; a footbridge was built to replace it. Although well-trafficked, the bridge deteriorated due to lack of maintenance and became unsafe; lighting was not replaced after persistent vandalism, and robberies were common. Residents filed a petition with the MBTA in 2010, but no actions were taken until the MBTA closed the bridge outright in March 2014 due to its condition. The City of Boston and the MBTA each claimed the other was responsible for maintaining and funding a replacement bridge, and the bridge was demolished around 2018 without replacement.

Improvement project

Talbot Ave from Harvard Street in December 2012

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts agreed in 2005 to make improvements on the Fairmount Line part of its legally binding commitment to mitigate increased air pollution from the

Big Dig The Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T Project), commonly known as the Big Dig, was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the Central Artery of Interstate 93 (I-93), the chief highway through the heart of the city, into the 1.5-mile (2.4&n ...

. To comply with the

State Implementation Plan A State Implementation Plan (SIP) is a United States state plan for complying with the federal Clean Air Act, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The SIP, developed by a state agency and approved by EPA, consists of narrative ...

filed with the federal

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale ...

, the improvements were required to have been completed by December 31, 2011. As an interim deadline, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation was required to "complete final design, apply for all necessary permits and grants, file any required legislation, and initiate all public and private land acquisition" by December 1, 2009. The existing

Uphams Corner Uphams Corner, or Upham's Corner, is a commercial center in Dorchester, the largest neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The intersection of Dudley Street/Stoughton Street and Columbia Road is the heart of Uphams Corner, and one of Dorchest ...

and Morton Street stations were rebuilt, featuring high-level train platforms for easy boarding, canopies, access ramps, electronic message boards, and pedestrian-friendly walkways. Since the completion of the project, all stations on the line are compliant with the

Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ...

and be wheelchair-accessible. Four new stations were constructed at Four Corners/Geneva, Talbot Avenue, Blue Hill Avenue, and Newmarket. Additionally, six bridges have been reconstructed, a new interlocking was added, and the signal system has been rebuilt. The MBTA has allocated $37 million to the project and $39 million has been allocated from the Commonwealth from the Emergency Needs Bond Bill of 2007. The total cost of the project is estimated at $79.4 million. The addition of new stations and the upgrades to the existing infrastructure are projected to divert 220 daily trips from automobiles to transit, and increase daily weekday ridership on the line from around 2,800 to 7,300 one-way trips. A $22.9 million reconstruction of the Massachusetts Avenue, Quincy Street, and Columbia Road bridges began in January 2007. The plan adopted by the MBTA is based on the Indigo Line plan advanced by community activists, which was intended to make the characteristics of the line more like

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...

than commuter rail, with increased frequency and number of stops. However, in its initial proposal the MBTA did not plan to increase service frequency to match rapid transit lines, nor to install pre-pay fare systems. The Indigo Line plan also called for the use of

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

(DMU) cars for faster acceleration and deceleration, which was considered by the MBTA but not implemented initially because of lack of funding. The proposed 2014 state budget included some funds to purchase DMU railcars and the state issued a request for proposals to purchase 30 DMUs, with deliveries starting in 2018, but the plan was canceled in 2016. The first new station to be completed, Talbot Ave, opened on November 12, 2012. Newmarket and Four Corners/Geneva opened on July 1, 2013. Five new round trips were also added, and Fairmount station was changed to fare zone 1A (to reduce fares to the same as rapid transit) for two years as a pilot program. Ribbon-cutting ceremonies were held at Newmarket, Four Corners/Geneva Ave, and Talbot Ave on July 17, 2013. The location and design of Blue Hill Avenue has been more controversial. A public meeting held in April 2014 showed mixed local opinions about the stations, with some nearby residents feeling that the stop was imposed on the neighborhood by the MBTA without sufficient public input. At a later meeting, the MBTA presented a plan under which construction would begin in September 2015 for a June 2017 opening. On October 16, 2014, the MBTA announced that construction of Blue Hill Avenue station will resume, with 100 percent design expected in spring 2015 and construction to start that November for a December 2017 opening. The MBTA also then announced that hourly weekend service would begin on November 29, 2014 – the first weekend service on the line since passenger service was reintroduced in 1979. In October 2016, the station entered the bidding phase with construction planned for 2017 and a station opening in 2019. Construction of the station began on June 3, 2017. To accommodate construction work at the station site, all weekend Fairmount Line trains in both directions were cut back to Morton Street, with bus shuttles between Morton Street, Fairmount, and Readville, and late-night outbound Fairmount Line service on weekdays was completely replaced with busses. The station opened on February 25, 2019. The line was shut down on weekends in November and December 2017 for the installation of

Positive Train Control Positive train control (PTC) is a family of automatic train protection systems deployed in the United States. Most of the United States' national rail network mileage has a form of PTC. These systems are generally designed to check that trains a ...

equipment in order to meet a 2020 federal deadline. Reconstruction of the Norfolk Avenue and East Cottage Street bridges took place in the 2020s.

2020–21 pilots and COVID-19 pandemic

A 2010 study on the potential addition of regular commuter service to the limited-service station at Foxboro included the possibility of extending Fairmount Line trains to Foxboro. In August 2017, the MBTA Fiscal Control Board approved an 11-month pilot program to test commuter rail service to Foxboro, with service planned to begin sometime in late 2018 or early 2019, although Fairmount Line advocates warned it might reduce service quality to existing Fairmount Line stations. Service to Foxboro – a combination of extended Fairmount Line trains and rerouted Franklin Line trains – began on October 21, 2019. Some local advocates have criticized the extension, saying it would degrade service at existing stops for the benefit of wealthier suburban commuters, while others believe it may make higher-frequency service possible. In January 2020, the MBTA Fiscal Management and Control Board voted to add four weekday Fairmount Line round trips as a one-year pilot program, originally planned to begin on May 18, 2020, but later postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The $1.1 million pilot increased service to 24 round trips on weekdays.

CharlieCard The CharlieCard is a contactless smart card used for fare payment for transportation in the Boston area. It is the primary payment method for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and several regional public transport systems ...

readers were placed at stations to provide a

proof-of-payment Proof-of-payment (POP) or proof-of-fare (POF) is an honor-based fare collection system used on many public transportation systems. Instead of checking each passenger as they enter a fare control zone, passengers are required to carry a ticket, pa ...

ticket that allows a transfer to subway or bus. The expanded service began on June 22, 2020, after three months of systemwide reduced service due to pandemic. One additional round trip was added on November 2, 2020, with 45-minute headways all day, as part of a systemwide transition to a

regional rail Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail, but fewer stops and faster serv ...

model. Foxboro service was suspended at that time, with plans to resume in Spring 2021 (though that did not occur). Weekday service was temporarily reduced to hourly headways from December 14, 2020, to April 5, 2021, again as part of systemwide reductions. , the line had round trips on weekdays and 12 on weekends. Beginning May 23, 2022, bicycles are allowed on all Fairmount Line trains. The 2020-added round trips were made permanent, as were free transfers to bus and subway plus use of

Charliecard The CharlieCard is a contactless smart card used for fare payment for transportation in the Boston area. It is the primary payment method for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and several regional public transport systems ...

s for payment. Limited Foxboro service also resumed at that time, albeit only with trains running via Ruggles rather than via the Fairmount Line. By October 2022, daily ridership was at 2,843 – 107% of 2018 ridership, compared to the system average of 69%. In June 2022, the MBTA indicated plans to convert the Fairmount Line to electric service in 2028–29. Catenary would not be installed on the line;

battery electric multiple unit A battery electric multiple unit (BEMU), battery electric railcar or accumulator railcar is an electrically driven multiple unit or railcar whose energy is derived from rechargeable batteries driving the traction motors. Prime advantages of these ...

s would be used, with a charging location at Readville.

Station listing

Current stations

Four Corners Geneva Ave station, looking inbound, July 2013

Historical and current stations

References

External links

MBTA – Fairmount Line ScheduleMBTA – Fairmount Line Improvements2002 feasibility study2004 needs assessment2008 service enhancement study
{{Massachusetts-Rhode Island transit agencies MBTA Commuter Rail New York and New England Railroad lines Rail infrastructure in Massachusetts