Fairmount Line Discussion

[wicked]

If they did re-zone the Hyde Park station then they'd have to re-zone the Readville station too since Readville is part of the Hyde Park neighborhood (and therefore part of Boston too)

Fairmount is also part of Hyde Park ... it's about a half-mile away from the Hyde Park stop.

Not a big Chuck Yancey fan, but his idea for a very limited no-fare trial might be worth exploring: http://www.boston.com/news/local/blogs/ ... /blog.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[diburning]

Re-zoning can have advantages as well. If they re-zone Readville and Hyde Park to 1A, then people getting on or off at those stations and are not going to Boston would pay more. This may be why they only rezoned up to Fairmount.

At the risk of going off-topic here, they should really re-zone stops that can be accessed by rapid transit to 1A. For example, why would I pay a zone 8 fare ($10) to get to Middleboro if I can hop on the red line for $2.00 and then pay $5.50 ($7.50 total) for an Interzone 8 fare? Same goes for Braintree. People would get on and off there and utilize the red line, at a loss to the MBTA.

[wicked]

At the risk of going off-topic here, they should really re-zone stops that can be accessed by rapid transit to 1A. For example, why would I pay a zone 8 fare ($10) to get to Middleboro if I can hop on the red line for $2.00 and then pay $5.50 ($7.50 total) for an Interzone 8 fare? Same goes for Braintree. People would get on and off there and utilize the red line, at a loss to the MBTA.

I work near JFK/UMass and ride from Middleboro. I would love to save $5 a day, but the extra time doesn't always make that step feasible.

[The EGE]

And it is now July first. Seven years and 5 months into this topic, the second and third new stations on the line are open. Compared to the Lackawanna Cutoff thread, we're doing pretty well

It looks from the new schedule that the T is going with Four Corners/Geneva Ave rather than Four Corners/Geneva.

[The EGE]

Went out and got some pictures today. More will come when I have time for mass uploads later, but here's the best-quality shots I chose for the lead images on Wikipedia. Click the image to get to the file page.

Newmarket:



Four Corners/Geneva Ave:


The station signs say "FOUR CORNERS/GENEVA" but the schedules say "Four Corners/Geneva Ave".

[BostonUrbEx]

I don't understand why they couldn't go with Four Corners. Go the Science Park route. The maps and signs say Science Park, but underneath (on the white with black text) it says Science Park / West End... makes much more sense, in my opinion.

[NH2060]

Great pics! Looks like the outbound track at Four Corners/Geneva could use some weed whacking

[merrick1]

I'm glad to see that MBCR is concerned with the safety of all its employees and now uses a sign that reads "Danger will not clear person on side of car."

[The EGE]

Apparently the higher frequency and reduced Fairmount fares are a "pilot program", or so says The Globe.

[rethcir]

I don't understand why they couldn't go with Four Corners. Go the Science Park route. The maps and signs say Science Park, but underneath (on the white with black text) it says Science Park / West End... makes much more sense, in my opinion.

I read an article in the Globe stating that Geneva is the common local nickname for this area.

[MarkB]

$200 million dollars, and they have to cut fares by half to entice riders? Good God! Can we get out $200 million back?

[The EGE]

$200 million dollars, and they have to cut fares by half to entice riders? Good God! Can we get out $200 million back?

They cut the fare at one stop - Fairmount - to match the fares on the rest of the line (excepting Readville, which is a difficult case because it's colocated with the Franklin Line stop), and to match rapid transit fares. That's something that's been the neighborhood's number-one request, and pretty much assumed from the beginning.

I wouldn't be surprised if Readville's fare drops eventually too, but probably not until we see some rapid transit-lite elements (Charliecard miraculously appearing, half-hour midday headways, night and weekend service, maybe even something other than 5-car loco-hauled consists) to differentiate it from Franklin Line service.

The MBTA would love to have Hyde Park's ridership skip on over to Fairmount, leaving them free to express more Providence/Stoughton trains inside 128. Particularly if Stoughton stays as the terminus for a while, I wouldn't be surprised to see them have Hyde Park served only by Stoughton locals. That gives a 9.2 mile gap of 79mph+ running between Ruggles and Route 128 - the second-longest such segment on the system (behind Wickford - T.F. Green).

[The EGE]

Ribbon-cuttings were held today at Talbot Ave, Four Corners/Geneva Ave, and Newmarket. The Boston Foundation made their announcement about committing $10 million over 4 years to projects along the corridor. I'm glad to see the publicity blitz continuing - the more attention these stations get, the better.


The first story I linked also makes it sound as though the service frequency is here to stay, and only the Fairmount move to Zone 1A is actually under trial:

The opening of these new stations is accompanied by the return of pre-construction service levels to the line bringing 20 inbound and 20 outbound trips per day down the line and reducing the wait time between trains. Also in an effort to increase ridership, the MBTA is launching a pilot program that will move Fairmount Station into Zone 1A for at least the next 18 months.

It also gives some hope for the fourth station:

Work on the fourth new station of the Fairmount Line Improvements Project, Blue Hill Ave, is expected to begin construction later this summer.

[wicked]

It's still a drop in the bucket, frequency-wise, with where they need to be for a thriving rail line.

Why get off at Newmarket to shop when you can go to Andrew and get relatively frequent bus service (either the South Bay shuttle, or the 10/16)?

Why hang out at Geneva waiting an hour for a train when you can take XX bus to XX Red Line station, and complete your journey that much more quickly?

[NH2060]

MY thoughts exactly. Even with 30 or 15 minute headways off-peak it still isn't enough for these neighborhoods for a line that's only 9 miles long. We're not talking about Metro-North's New Canaan Branch here where it's mostly wooded and not as densely populated. The North Station-Beverly segment of the Newburyport/Rockport Line (18-19 miles long) has more frequent service with 28 round trips on weekdays and that still (IMO as someone who used to ride it every now and then) could use added frequencies, especially late in the evening. It sounds like the T is trying to make something it isn't out of something that has far more potential. And even if the T wanted to run 10 minute headways all day long they'd have to ensure that they could get slots into South Station. Perhaps when (or if) SS gets expanded the T can install a dedicated track for the Readville shuttles and perhaps a flyover of some sort to get around existing and future increased rail traffic.

Now one thing I can see being doable in the near future is if the T were to do another pilot program and run more frequent shuttles back and forth between Readville and Newmarket as a sort of "Intra-Fairmount/Dorchester/Newmarket Square" service.