Dorchester Branch (MBTA Commuter Rail)

FAIRMOUNT LINE
An outbound train at Talbot Ave station in 2012
Overview
Type	Commuter rail line
System	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Status	Operating
Locale	Eastern Massachusetts
Termini	Boston South Station Readville
Stations	8 active 1 planned
Daily ridership	2,257 (2016 weekday average)
Operation
Owner	MBTA
Operator(s)	Keolis North America
Character	Elevated and surface-level
Technical
Line length	9.2 mi (14.8 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map South Station Amtrak Northeast Corridor, Framingham/Worcester, Franklin, Needham, and Providence/Stoughton Lines Fort Point Channel Greenbush and Old Colony Lines Newmarket Uphams Corner Four Corners/Geneva Ave Talbot Ave Morton Street Blue Hill Avenue (under construction) Neponset River Fairmount Neponset River Readville Interim Repair Facility Amtrak NEC and Providence/Stoughton Line Readville Amtrak NEC and Providence/Stoughton Line Franklin Line Dedham Branch (closed 1967) This diagram:

The Fairmount Line or Dorchester Branch is a line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Except for a short portion in Milton, it lies entirely within Boston, progressing in a southwesterly trajectory, passing through the neighborhoods of Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park. Weekend service began on November 29, 2014. Most trains reverse direction at the south end at Readville, but a few continue onto the Franklin Line.

From the 1980s until 2012, the Fairmount Line had only five stations: three plus the two termini (South Station and Readville); however, three more stations were added to the line between 2012 and 2013. The first of these, Talbot Ave, opened on November 12, 2012, followed by Newmarket and Four Corners/Geneva on July 1, 2013. Due to neighborhood opposition over its design and location, another planned station, Blue Hill Avenue, has been delayed until 2019. All stations on the line are fully handicapped accessible.

The corridor currently serves mostly low-income and working-class communities. Despite frequent cancellations, a June 2016 count showed that ridership had nearly tripled from 2012.

The line was built as an entrance to Boston for the Norfolk County Railroad and its successors, which originally had to rely on a connection via the Boston and Providence Railroad from Dedham. The new line, built in 1855, split from the old one at Islington and ran northeast, crossing the Boston and Providence Railroad at Readville. It continued on through Hyde Park and Dorchester before crossing the Old Colony Railroad at South Bay Junction. The line continued into South Boston and made a sweeping curve along a trestle west to downtown Boston and a terminal at Dewey Square.