Where'd it go! Red Line update

[CS]

As you guys know, this weekend the Shawmut branch (Dorchester) of the red line is closed while Fields Corner and Savin Hill station. Well, me living around Fields Corner, I decided to take a walk to see what's going on and when I saw it I said to myself: "Where'd it go?!" Barletta is not taking there time - Fields Corner station is nearly demolished. From the Dorchester Avenue entrance all I saw was cranes and some of what's left of the wall. It's the end of an era....

Later on, look for an update on Savin Hill!

[CSX Conductor]

I agree...saw it from the expressway heading North around 330pm or so on Saturday......moving right along. Too bad getting the new station probably won't happen so quickly.

[efin98]

I hope the T rebuilds the stations better than their sister station JFK/UMass. No reason to not incorporate better features into the stations now that the T has learned from JFK/UMass what to do and not to do with a station, especially ones so vital to their community.

CS, anyway you can get some pictures of the construction/demolition?

[fm535]

On Saturday morning, I was heading to Braintree from JFK. The cranes were in place, and ready to start demolishing Savin Hill. When I returned more than 8 hours later, the bare platform remained and that was about it. This afternoon, what was left of the access stairs to Savin Hill Road are gone, and most of the platform has been demolished or razed. I am amazed at the speed of demolition, but then again, they have one more day to finish clean-up and then the trains roll the Ashmont side again...or so they say! I agree, the mistakes made at JFK will hopefully not be repeated down the Ashmont side of the line. (I still don't understand why they created two different platforms at one station, and I realize that the Ashmont side is Columbia tidied up a bit!)

(If I get a chance, Monday afternoon, and it isn't raining, I will walk down the street and take some pics of what WAS Savin Hill!)

[vanshnookenraggen]

Man, I wish I had gotten some shots of the old stations. Oh well. From the images on the T's web site the new ones look cool.

[CS]

I was just down there again and all that stands is the platform extensions made in 1981. Everything else is rubble. It's fun watching people walk past the station and listen... "wow!" "Oh s***!" A lot of people thought that it was just a renovation, and then today they saw the station gone.

Well I didn't make it down to Savin Hill, but I will tommorow morning.

[CS]

Please note that the topic was drifting so I split it into another one regarding red line stations.

[CS]

I saw what was Savin Hill - you would never know there was a station there. I mean, it's just GONE. The space that occupied has rocks and dirt on it so it looks like as if nothing was ever there.

Also Fields Corner feels like a completely different station. Sun, light - can't wait till it's done. One problem is that right now there currently isn't any kind of shelter from rain - it's just all open. Hope they fix that soon...

[lstrong]

I pass by it on the commuter rail every day. You're right. It's as if nothing was ever there. The only clue left is the boarded up area on the bridge where the entrance used to be.

[Robert Paniagua]

Yeap, thats right, pretty much cleaned up from the Braintree Red Line, just that boarded up area.

Now, I wonder, is the station gonna get redesigned, with island platfourms on either side of the Ashmont tracks, if anyone knows?

[apodino]

I would imagine it would remain an island platform, since you wouldn't have to realign the tracks.

My question is, why is Ashmont Station being rebuilt with outside platforms? I would think this would be a perfect opportunity to make it into an island platform which is the way all terminal stations should be.

[jrc520]

simple. Because you need to transfer to the High speed line, which gets a large amount of traffic. you can't put it in the middle of a island platform, there would be no room for the loop. Basically, they are stuck from the whole loop/platform layout that is already there. it would cost far too much to change it.

[apodino]

But the way I understand the plans according to the T's web site is that the Loop is being moved to the south end of the station and will be over the tracks. Since the loop is over the tracks, that would render the arguement about the island moot.