Boston – Islington railway line

Boston MA-Islington MA
Talbot Avenue station with departing train, Dec. 2012
Route length:	20.1 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Dual track :	Total route except in Readville station
Society:	South Boston – Junction: CSXT South Boston – Islington Junction : MBTA
Shared use:	Junction – Islington: CSXT
Legend Boston freight rail 0.0 Boston MA Summer Street Station Boston subway ( red line ) 0.0 Boston MA South Station to Worcester and Providence Fort Point Channel Connection from Worcester / Providence from Boston OC Station South Boston Harbor Railway 1.3 South Boston MA Tram BERY (West Broadway) Boston subway ( red line ) Tram BERY ( Dorchester Ave ) Connection to Plymouth 2.3 to Plymouth (km 1.8 from South Station) Interstate 93 Tram BERY (Southampton Street) 3.5 Newmarket Tram BERY (Massachusetts Avenue) 4.3 Cottage Street 4.4 Uphams Corner (formerly Dudley Street) Tram BERY (Dudley Street) 5.0 Bird Street Tram BERY (Columbia Road) Tram BERY (Geneva Avenue) 6.3 Four Corners / Geneva Avenue (formerly Mt.Bowdoin) Tram BERY (Washington Street) 7.1 Harvard Street 7.6 Talbot Avenue Tram BERY (Talbot Avenue) 8.1 Dorchester MA 9.5 Morton Street 10.0 Blue Hill Avenue (formerly Mattapan) Tram BERY (Blue Hill Ave) Tram BERY (Cummins Highway) 11.6 River Street Tram of the BSS (River St) Neponset River (2 ×) 13.1 Fairmount Neponset River 13.9 Glenwood Avenue (formerly Hyde Park) Neponset River Readville MBTA depot Connection to Providence Tram BERY (Hyde Park Ave) 15.3 Readville MA ( Tower Station ) Boston – Providence line Connection from Boston Back Bay 16.6 Ashcroft 17.6 Endicott (formerly Oakdale) 18.4 to Dedham (Dedham Junction) 19.0 Rustcraft (1955-1977) 19.1 Dedham MA Corporate Center 19.3 Elmwood (approx. Until 1890) Interstate 95 20.1 Islington MA (formerly West Dedham) from Dedham according to Willimantic

The railway Boston Islington is a railway line in Massachusetts ( United States ). It is around 20 kilometers long and connects the cities of Boston and Dedham . It crosses the Boston districts of Dorchester and Readville . The original line with the terminus north of today's Boston South Station has been shut down and dismantled as far as South Boston since 1899. The section from the junction of the Port Railway in South Boston to the junction with the Boston – Plymouth line belongs to CSX Transportation , which operates freight services on the line. Today's railway line begins at Boston South Station and runs right next to the railway line to Plymouth to this junction. Like the rest of the route to Islington, it belongs to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority , which operates passenger services on the route. From the intersection to Islington, CSX Transportation has the right to use the route.

history

The Norfolk County Railroad had opened a railway line from Dedham south in 1849. Passengers to Boston had to change trains at Dedham on the Boston and Providence Railroad . In order to create a direct route to Boston, the Midland Railroad Company received a concession in 1850 to build a railway line from Boston to West Dedham (now Islington). The funds were supposed to come from the Norfolk County Railroad, but failed to materialize as the latter itself had economic problems. On December 12, 1853, the two railway companies merged to form the Boston and New York Central Railroad , which now raised the money for the railway construction. The line was opened in January 1855.

Operations ceased in July 1855 after Dorchester residents complained about the dangerous level crossings. Only after the court proceedings were concluded in December 1856 and the railway line was raised or lowered in order to avoid the level crossings, the railway company resumed traffic. From March 1857, the East Thompson Railroad took over the railroad because Boston & New York had to go bankrupt. However, this could not hold its own and at the beginning of 1858 Boston & New York took over management of the business again. In the same year, this was transferred to a new Midland Railroad Company , which, however, ceased operations on the route, which was now threatened with closure.

Although the Midland Railroad was taken over by the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad in 1863 , it did not resume operations for the time being. The Norfolk County Railroad, still officially the owner of the railway line, leased it in December 1866 to Boston, Hartford & Erie, which now opened the service again in early 1867. In 1875, the New York and New England Railroad bought the train and continued operations. In 1898, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad finally took over the route that also owned the railway line to Providence that crossed in Readville. The trains running through now mostly drove from Readville on this route to Boston. The line from Readville to Boston was downgraded to a branch line. On January 1, 1899, Boston South Station was opened and the old terminus on Summer Street including the section to South Boston was closed.

In July 1938, New York, New Haven & Hartford stopped passenger traffic between Boston and Readville, but resumed it in 1940. As early as March 1944, passenger traffic on this section ended again. A Rustcraft station went into operation between Endicott and Islington in 1955 and was located east of today's Dedham Corporate Center station. It was given up again in 1977. The Elmwood stop was already in the vicinity by around 1890. In early 1969, Penn Central took over traffic on the route. In 1973 the MBTA bought the line from the junction in South Boston to Islington and took over the passenger transport. The freight traffic from South Boston to Islington was still carried out by Penn Central, from 1976 by its successor Conrail and finally from 1999 by CSX Transportation.

In November 1979, all passenger traffic between Readville and Boston was diverted over the railway line because the main line was being built. This also included long-distance Amtrak trains . To this end, the MBTA built again a platform at the top of the tower station Readville and stopovers in Uphams Corner, Morton Street and Fairmount. The stations Uphams Corner and Morton Street were given up again in January 1981. It was not until October 1987 that the converted main line was reopened and most trains, including the Amtrak long-distance trains, returned to this. However, the traffic on the route via Dorchester had developed well, so that the MBTA maintained passenger traffic on the Boston – Readville section and now also took the Uphams Corner and Morton Street stations back into operation. The trains via Dorchester mostly end in Readville, but individual trains continue to Franklin and Forge Park during rush hour. Most trains to these destinations only operate from Readville and reach the station via the main line.

Four Corners / Geneva Avenue station shortly after opening.

In 1990 the Dedham Corporate Center station was opened. In 2010, the MBTA planned to open additional stations along the route. Construction work began that same year and on November 12, 2012, Talbot Avenue station was the first to go into operation. On July 1, 2013, the Newmarket and Four Corners / Geneva Avenue stations also opened. The refurbishment of the Blue Hill Avenue station, which was in operation until the 1940s, is also planned. Four Corners station is located on the site of the former Mount Bowdoin station.

Route description

The original route began in Summer Street Station, which was immediately north of what is now Boston South Station, but with a track axis perpendicular to that of today's station. The line led eastwards out of the station, crossed the Fort Point Channel and turned in a long curve in the direction of the southwest. The first train station on the line was in South Boston, but it lost passenger traffic when the Boston South Station opened in 1899 and is no longer recognizable today. Shortly afterwards, the railway line passes under the main line to Plymouth. The line track is no longer available in the intersection area, the freight trains from South Boston have to turn south onto the main line here, while the trains from South Station turn onto the line from the north.

In the further course the railway line crosses Dorchester. The Newmarket station, which opened in 2013, was rebuilt; there was previously no train station here. The original Cottage Street station was relocated to Dudley Street soon after the line opened, which is now Uphams Corner station. Other stations that were last served in 1944 were on Bird Street and Harvard Street. Dorchester Station was also not reopened in 1979. Instead, the line between the previous Harvard Street and Dorchester stations was given the Talbot Avenue stop in 2012, where a double track change had been located since 2008 . Morton Street station has only existed at this point since 1979. Shortly thereafter, the railway crosses Blue Hill Avenue, where a train station was until 1944 and where a new station is to be built in the near future. In Fairmount, the railway line crosses the Neponset River four times .

Readville Train Station. The railway line runs in an east-west direction.

Shortly afterwards the Readville junction is reached. Almost the entire route from Boston to Islington is double-track, only in the Readville station area it is single-track. The station is a tower station , in the lower part of which the main line Boston - Providence is. In the upper part of the route runs to Islington. The single-track connecting curve from Back Bay towards Islington has its own platform on both sides of the track. The route from Boston via Dorchester has only one side platform. At the connecting curve to the south there is no longer a platform today. The Readville – Dedham railway line, which also previously branched off from Readville station, has been closed and had no rail connection from the line to Islington.

After Readville, the route crosses the Boston city limits and reaches the urban area of ​​Dedham. The Dedham Junction junction was on the open road. A short branch line to Dedham turned off here until 1932 . Shortly thereafter, the railway reaches Islington, where it joins the Dedham – Willimantic railway , which has been closed from Dedham to this point.

passenger traffic

In 1868 five pairs of trains ran on the route, and another ran on Fridays. All trains went beyond Islington at least to South Dedham (now Norwood), but mostly to Blackstone or Mechanicsville. In 1893 the train service had increased significantly. Several express trains, such as the New England Limited , ran to New York. Two of the express trains ran daily, plus three that only ran on weekdays and one that only ran on weekdays and only to Putnam. Seven weekday and two Sunday passenger trains also ran from Boston to Franklin. On weekdays there was a train to Walpole, six trains to Norwood and three trains to Dedham. The latter turned off at Dedham Junction on the branch line to Dedham. In the opposite direction there were four trains from Dedham to Boston, but one of them was attached to a train from Norwood. On Sundays two more trains went to Norwood.

In 1932, travel to Readville was significantly restricted, as the trains to Norwood and Willimantic now turned off the main line there. Trains only ran between Boston and Readville during rush hour, namely three pairs of trains on weekdays and two pairs of trains on Saturdays, only one to Readville and the rest to Fairmount. The trains drove in the same direction, early to Boston, in the afternoon to Fairmount and Readville.

In 2013, the MBTA trains of the Fairmount Line run on the route between Boston and Readville every hour outside of rush hour traffic. On weekdays, a total of 22 journeys towards the city and 21 towards the land are offered, of which three towards the city and one towards the land continue on the Franklin Line to Forge Park. Franklin Line trains run between Readville and Islington. On weekdays there are 18 trains towards the country and 19 towards the city. The Fairmount Line is not in operation on weekends, trains on the Franklin Line run between Readville and Islington every two hours, with nine pairs of trains on Saturdays and seven on Sundays.

Sources and further reading

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Article by Matt Rocheleau in the Boston Globe, June 24, 2013 (accessed January 2, 2014)
2. ↑ see timetables of the route from the years mentioned.
3. ↑ MBTA Fairmount Line (PDF), MBTA Franklin Line (PDF) (accessed January 2, 2014)

literature

• Ronald D. Karr: The Rail Lines of Southern New England. A Handbook of Railroad History. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 1995. ISBN 0-942147-02-2
• Mike Walker: Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. (2nd edition) SPV-Verlag, Dunkirk (GB), 2010. ISBN 1-874745-12-9