Parking 100 spaces | Rebuilt 21 October 2011 | |
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Location 1900 Dorchester Avenue
at 200 Ashmont Street
Dorchester, Massachusetts Owned by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Line(s) Red Line– Ashmont
Red Line– Mattapan Platforms 2 side platforms (Red Line)
1 side platform (Ashmont-Mattapan Line) Tracks 2 (Red Line)
1 (Ashmont-Mattapan Line) Address Boston, MA 02124, United States Owner Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Similar Mattapan, Braintree, JFK/UMass, Fields Corner, Alewife | ||
Ashmont (signed as Ashmont / Peabody Sq.) is a multimodal MBTA transfer station located at Peabody Square in Dorchester, Massachusetts. It is the southern terminus of the Dorchester Branch (Ashmont Branch) of the rapid transit Red Line, the northern terminus of the light rail Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line, and an important MBTA Bus terminal.
Contents
Ashmont station is fully handicapped accessible for all modes.
History
The first Ashmont Station was a simple building along the original Shawmut Branch of the Old Colony Railroad, which opened in 1872. That was when steam locomotives powered the passenger trains that continued into Boston with a stop at Fields Corner. The current intermediate Shawmut Station was not created as a train stop until the Shawmut Branch of the steam railroad (by then under the New Haven Railroad) was adapted to electrified subway service in the late 1920s and placed underground as it approached Ashmont Station.
When first built in 1928, no buses served the station; all lines ran streetcars. Specifically, the following Boston Elevated Railway streetcar lines operated to Ashmont (using post-1942 numbers), unloading on the east side and loading on the two west tracks on the west side:
Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway cars to Brockton also used the station.
Two streetcar lines serving the area west of Ashmont were bustituted soon after opening, later becoming the 25 and 26 buses. They were rerouted to Ashmont for faster access to downtown. A new busway was built on the west side of the station in 1929; this has since been connected to the old streetcar ramps. The first section of the Mattapan High Speed Line (originally 28) also opened in 1929, serving the easternmost track on the west side.
The Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway line converted to bus in 1932, using the busway. The 27 was bustituted in 1933, and a new route (24, renumbered 12 ca. 1967) serving the area east of the station was also added. Additionally the Eastern Mass started running buses over what are now the 215 and 217 routes.
The ramps were paved, and in 1949 the trolleybus replaced the 22 and 23 lines.
Reconstruction
In 2005, the MBTA awarded a $35.2 million contract for the complete reconstruction of the 75-year-old Ashmont station. The station was razed by September 2007 and the station was completely rebuilt. Trolley service was interrupted for 18 months, but was restored in December 2007. The reconstruction was completed in 2009, while architectural work lasted until the summer of 2011. Highlights of the project included:
The station construction included of a first-of-its-kind transit oriented development (TOD) on the station site. The 116 units of mixed-income housing represent the state, city, MBTA, community and a private developer's combined effort to provide housing adjacent to rapid transit, thereby reducing automobile usage.
In September 2011, a "HOLD" sign was installed on the trolley platform to allow an easier connection for those transferring from the Red Line.
Bus connections
Ashmont is a major terminal for the MBTA Bus system, with seven local routes serving the station busway:
The Brockton Area Transit Authority operates one bus route to Ashmont - one of the only non-MBTA routes running to an MBTA rapid transit station: