BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s financial oversight board has approved a $1.1 million, one-year pilot program to add eight daily trains to Boston’s Fairmount Line, the first step in the agency’s ambitious commuter rail transformation program. An additional $100,000 will be available to market the new service.
The pilot starts May 18, 2020, in sync with the spring schedule changes.
In November, the Fiscal and Management Control Board approved a plan to add high-frequency service on three lines of the regional rail system with new electric multiple-unit trains.
“The Fairmount Line is the only line in the entire system with a mostly minority ridership,” says Reggie Ramos, deputy director of pilots and innovation at the MBTA. It has been a source of consternation for residents in Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan and Hyde Park, who have long asked for increased service and more equitable fares. Marvin Martin of the Fairmount Indigo Transit Coalition says, “We see this as a first step in completing the process.”
The added trains will bring the total to 48 daily weekday trips, with service from 5 a.m. to midnight. Ramos anticipates an increase of 400 daily passengers, with most coming over from local buses.
Riders will be able to use the subway system’s Charlie Cards on a portion of line within the city, which reduces fares to $2.40 per ride instead of the higher commuter rail fares.
Rob DiAdamo, executive director of commuter rail, is leading the initial planning for the rail vision transformation project. He is already working to hire executives who will focus on electrification, right-of-way improvements, new rolling stock, needed maintenance and layover facilities, as well as financing and contracts.
The finance board asked for a more detailed plan to be presented in the spring.
Last Sunday night I was out on that line inspecting stations. Big long high-level platforms, except at Fairmount and Readville with shorter older low-level ones. Small handful of people waiting and getting off–but this is Sunday night 6-8pm. Better than the off-peak Silver Line in the Design District but more people living here than there. Long trains with only one car open. Seems like a lot of riding between stations rather than to endpoints; the line does cross major bus routes rather than paralleling any. As for the late-night Old Colony service–for years it ended too early with last trains out at 2220 & 2230; no way to get the evening traffic; OK I’m spoiled by all that 2410 North Station departures on the four routes. The 2nd District-Dorchester branch lost its little remaining psgr service in 1938 era and went freight-only; there was a grade crossing at Bird St. into the 1970’s near Uphams Corner.
Hmmm… 400 additional passengers on 8 extra trains. That’s less than 50 per train.
i really don’t understand the t anymore i think they just ignore any issues that doesn’t have to do with boston, they recently said they add more late night services to the south shore but instead of adding additional services they just moved them an hour later making it an almost 3 hour gap between the last train at 8 and 11:30 yet you have money to spend on adding an extra 8 trains on a route that hardly fill one car yet still have 5-6 car trains, i just don’t understand it, i really hope they look at adding more services to all routes because it would really help with more people taking the t
Can we drop the race card? Increased service on the Fairmount branch will be a good thing for neighborhood residents. But the current moderate level of service isn’t because Hyde Park and Dorchester are minority neighborhoods. It’s because historically this was a freight line which no one thought to put passenger trains on. That is, until the NEC main was withdrawn from service for a total reconstruct and Fairmount was the detour.
Scott A. Hartley well done.
I believe it is 100 per train based on round trips. Still, something a budd car or two would do well with . . .
I think that this route had some local passenger trains up until the early/ mid-1940s. It was the main freight route for the NH RR from the main line at Readville to the big freight yards in South Boston. There is a connection at Readville with the line which goes to Norwood and Franklin. (This was the reason why the NH station at Readville had platforms down below (main line) and up above (Fairmount line).