BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is bringing back its $10 weekend unlimited-ride commuter rail tickets, discontinued last month, the Boston Herald reports.
The MBTA’s new general manager, Steve Poftak, made the announcement on Wednesday, saying the Federal Transit Administration had allowed the pilot program to be extended for an additional six months. The fare will be available again starting Saturday.
MBTA weekend commuter rail revenue was up 4.6 percent during the initial trial, which began in June 2018. It ended in December because federal rules required an equity analysis before the new fare could be made permanent. [See “MBTA’s $10 weekend pass to end, at least for now,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 11, 2018.] That analysis will now be conducted while the pilot program continues.
Another memory of the Yawkey station area and Fenway Park: I went to afternoon Red Sox games with my dad in the 1940s. The interior of the stadium was different in those days – from the right field seats one could see across to the Boston & Albany line (not possible today). Most of the trains were steam-powered as of 1946 or so. There must have been a signal there, because sometimes they stopped. These included locos backing down to South Station. Some were large and I suspect that they were B&A 600-series 4-6-4s, plus New York Central “Mohawk” 4-8-2s, which were common on the B&A intercity passenger trains. I was a boy railfan who got his RR info from Lionel catalogs and occasional 25-cent purchases of Railroad Magazine (I never say Trains Mag in those days).
Charles- Let us not make fun of Jimmy Piersall. After he retired from baseball he wrote a book “Fear Strikes Out” about his mental issues. Here he was, a star athlete, yet he was plagued by fears and apprehension, self-doubt, no confidence, etc. Glad he got straightened out. As for Yawkey station, many younger railfans today in the Boston area don’t realize that the Boston & Albany had some local stations within the Boston city limits. One was located at Commonwealth Ave near the Cottage Farm/ Boston University Bridge, at the west end of the BU campus. (wood platforms, no station building). The “Allston Depot” sports bar in Allston was another one. Next to the New Haven’s Back Bay Station, the B&A had Trinity Place (westbound) and Huntington Avenue (eastbound) stations.
Yawkey station did not exist in”the old days” – It was named for Yawkey Way, a side street that leads to the nearby Fenway Park baseball stadium. The Politically-Correct crowd recently gave Mr. Yawkey, a well-known philanthropist, the boot and brought back the old name, “Jersey Street”. But the MBTA has not renamed the station. Glad to see that the $10 weekend pass is returning.
And if we proposed to rename every building, location, town, city, etc., etc., named after some once-distinguished personage who has now been judged by contemporary notions of non-offensiveness, my list would be longer than yours, Charles. I’d start with the dollar bill and the visage of that old racist, Washington, who in my schoolboy days was revered as “the father of our country.”
Of all the useless, counterproductive, asinine federal programs (a list longer than long) the federal government micro- managing fare programs on the basis social equity has got to be the stupidest. Somehow it never occurred to me that the Chicago Metra weekend passes I’ve bought discriminate against minorities.
Two memories re: the photog: (1) Around 1961, watching construction of the MassPike Boston extension from my first, last and only ride on the New York Central, before the Penn Central merger. (2) Somewhere near that station (which at that time did not exist) I photographed an ex – ATSF Alco PA in D+H paint, briefly used on MBTA trains in the 1970’s.
Yawkey Station (shown), not far from Fenway Park, has been proposed to be renamed, as it is named after the Boston Red Sox owner who resisted racial integration of his team.
RON – You’re right. It was the street that was renamed, not the train station. I’m not for Political Correctness but the name change was a good one if for the wrong reason. The once and again name “Jersey Street” is sacred to all Boston Red Sox fans. Jersey/ Yawkey/ Jersey street is the access to Fenway Park.
No, I’m not a Red Sox fan. Even I have some standards of cognitive development.
RON – I never bought into the widespread accusation that Tom Yawkey was a racist. Some team had to be the last to take on an African – American player and as it happened that would be the BoSox. Yawkey couldn’t have been much of a racist as Ted Williams was 50% Mexican – American and Jimmy Piersall was 100% Martian – American.