Alright, so we’ve done the longest Commuter Rail route. Now, let’s do the shortest. All aboard the next Fairmount train!
Yeah, for some reason the line ends at Readville instead of Fairmount. A bit of a weird choice but whatever. I got on the train and we were off to the races. Time to South Station from here is expected to take 30 minutes. First stop, Fairmount.
A few people got on at Fairmount, however we were largely off to the races again afterwards. The train started moving forward again.
Up next? Blue Hill Avenue. A lot of people got on here, mostly school-aged children. As such, because they’re a bunch of teenagers who are likely too stupid to know how to keep their voices down, things got very loud on the train. Moving further down the tracks, we reached the next stop.
A LOT of people got on at Morton Street. Like, it got worse. Nevertheless, from here, it was a straight shot to the next stop where not many people got on or off. Ah well.
Up next was Talbot Avenue, and a few people got off here thankfully. However, it wasn’t enough for a quiet train. We pressed on further through the tracks, and arrived at the next station shortly after.
Geneva! Well, it’s not Geneva, Switzerland, unfortunately. But whatever. A lot of people got off here, and from here we eventually passed a community center with …McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc’s name attached to it at Upham’s Corner????? Yeah, I don’t know on that one. Fortunately from here, it was just Newmarket and a straight shot to South Station. Eventually, we did make it to South Station.
The good: It bisects low-income neighborhoods, giving the people another opportunity to commute into downtown! It’s also relatively very frequent, at 45 minute headways.
The bad: WHY IS THIS EVEN A COMMUTER RAIL LINE INSTEAD OF A NEW SUBWAY LINE ENTIRELY, OR AN ORANGE LINE BRANCH?! At this point, the MBTA may as well convert into a new line. I dunno, color it indigo as a nod to the fact it’s a Commuter Rail line? Apparently, people ride this route, though not many, with around 2600 daily passengers as of 2018.
Nearby points of interest: Readville, if you’re into railfanning! Also, Mattapan, Hyde Park, and Dorchester are along the line.
Overall, it’s not a terrible route, but it feels like it’s a regional train line trying to also be rapid transit, and in a way feels like it’s failing at both. Just put the Fairmount Line out of its misery and turn it into a subway line, PLEASE.
Rating: 7/10
