Fairmount (MBTA station)

FAIRMOUNT

Station, looking northeast (inbound) viewed from Fairmount Avenue bridge
Location Fairmount Avenue & Truman Highway
Hyde Park, MA 02136
Coordinates 42°15′14″N 71°07′09″W / 42.2538°N 71.1191°W / 42.2538; -71.1191Coordinates: 42°15′14″N 71°07′09″W / 42.2538°N 71.1191°W / 42.2538; -71.1191
Owned by MBTA
Line(s)
  Fairmount Line
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Connections MBTA Bus: 24
Construction
Parking 51 spaces
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Fare zone 1A
History
Opened 1855, November 3, 1979
Closed 1944
Rebuilt 2004-05
Previous names Hyde Park
Traffic
Passengers (2013) 188 (weekday inbound average)[1]
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station
Terminus
Fairmount Line
Opens 2017
Franklin Line
Limited service

Fairmount (sometimes written as Fairmount Avenue) is a passenger rail station on MBTA Commuter Rail's Fairmount Line. It is the last stop outbound on the Fairmount Line before it joins the Franklin Line at Readville.

Fairmount station is located in the Hyde Park section of Boston, Massachusetts, under the Fairmount Avenue overpass. The officially listed cross street, Truman Parkway, is 300 feet to the southeast along Fairmount Avenue.

History

Early postcard of Fairmount station

Previous service

Service on the Fairmount Line (as the Dorchester Branch of the Norfolk County Railroad and later the New York and New England Railroad and New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad) began in 1855 and lasted until 1944. The service included a stop named Hyde Park at Fairmount Avenue, and a stop named Fairmount near Glenwood Avenue.[2] The station at Glenwood Avenue was also known as Glenwood. Another station, currently known as Hyde Park, is located in Hyde Park six blocks to the west. During their histories, both stations were referred to both as "Hyde Park" and as "Fairmount".[3]

Fairmount Line

The Dorchester Branch (also known as the Midland Route) was reopened as a bypass in November 1979 during Southwest Corridor construction, including stops at Uphams Corner, Morton Street, and Fairmount.[4] This station was originally built at minimal cost, with small low-level platforms and no direct access to Morton Street. The station was not handicapped accessible, as service over the route was intended to be temporary. However, it was popular with residents of the communities the line passed through: by 1983, over 600 riders per day boarded at Fairmount, enough to justify service to both Fairmount and nearby Hyde Park after the end of construction.[5]

These ramps and mini-high platforms were added in the 2005 renovation

When the Southwest Corridor reopened in October 1987, the Fairmount shuttle service was retained as the Fairmount Line.[4] Fairmount was the terminus of the line until it was extended to Readville on November 30, 1987.[4]

Renovation

A major renovation of Fairmount station began in early 2003.[6] The $7 million project, which was completed in 2004-05, added 1-car-length high platforms and ramps to the Fairmount Avenue overpass to make the station handicapped accessible.[7][8] During the construction, new temporary platforms were built slightly northeast of the station.

Uphams Corner and Morton Street stations received full-length high level platforms in renovations that finished in 2007. When Blue Hill Avenue, the last of four new stations, is completed in 2017, Fairmount and Readville will be the only stations on the line without full-length high-level platforms. The MBTA wishes to eventually add high-level platforms at Fairmount to speed boarding, but there are no current plans to do so.[9]

As part of a long-term shift of the Fairmount Line from commuter rail to a rapid transit-like service, Fairmount was shifted from Zone 1 to Zone 1A on July 1, 2013, making a trip to South Station equal to a rapid transit fare. This equalized all fares on the line except trips to/from Readville.[10]

Bus connections

Fairmount station's sole direct bus connection is the 24 Wakefield Avenue & Truman Highway - Mattapan or Ashmont Station via River Street route, which runs on Fairmount Avenue.

The 32, 33, and 50 routes serve Hyde Park station at Cleary Square, a short walk to the west.

References

  1. ↑ "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14 ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  2. ↑ Rand Mcnally Maps (1903). "Boston 1903". Ward Maps. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  3. ↑ Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. pp. 146, 295. ISBN 9780942147087.
  4. 1 2 3 Belcher, Jonathan (23 April 2012). "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  5. ↑ Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. p. Inside front cover. ISBN 9780685412947.
  6. ↑ Edwards and Kelcey Inc. (June 2004). "Fairmount Corridor Improvement Project: Needs Assessment (Executive Summary)" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. p. viii. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "Accessibility Projects at the MBTA" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. March 2005. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  8. ↑ "MBTA Begins Upgrading Fairmount Line" (PDF). TRANSreport. Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization. May 2005. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  9. ↑ Jacobs, Edwards; Kelcey Engineering (April 2008). "Fairmount Line Corridor Improvements Project: Service Enhancements Study (Final Report)" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. p. 3. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  10. ↑ Rocheleau, Matt (24 June 2013). "Fairmount commuter rail line to see service boost, some cheaper fares". Boston Globe. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
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